In Sickness and In Health
by Jackie W
Summary: Part 5 - The final chapter - Hammond retires, and Sam and Jack add to their family
1. In Sickness and In Health

Title: "In Sickness and in Health"  
  
Author: Jackie W.   
  
Email: jackiesfic@aol.com  
  
Rating: R  
  
Classification: S/J Romance  
  
Season: Season 6, After METAMORPHOSIS  
  
Spoilers: ItLod, and lots of little ones up through Meta  
  
Summary: Sam is still dealing with the fallout from her blending with Jolinar.   
  
  
  
As always feed back craved!   
  
Sam Carter nibbled on the toast that was part of the breakfast she had been served in the infirmary, and prayed that it would stay down. Her prayers went unanswered. It was starting all over again. Only three people knew of her eating problem. Janet, as her Doctor. had been treating her for it ever since it had begun. General Hammond knew, as the Doctor had been forced to report it each time it had flared up. Sam's father knew, because Janet had consulted with Selmak to see if there was anything that the Tok'Ra could do to help. So far, Sam had kept it from her team. At first because she hadn't wanted to seem weak. Later because she had not wanted them hovering and worrying about her.   
  
She didn't have an eating disorder. This was nothing she had any control over. This was a medical condition that no one knew how to handle. It had started after Jolinar. The Naquada in Sam's blood stream, and the protein marker had caused a lot of problems, but the biggest one had been gastrointestinal. She'd had problems keeping down solid food for weeks after Jolinar had died within her, until gradually her system had adjusted. There had been minor setbacks during her first months back on duty, first when they had been held as prisoners on Hadante, and then when Pyrus and Shyla had forced the three members of SG1 to work in the Naquada mines. After that, she had been fine. Until she had abused her body for 100 days when the Colonel had been trapped on Edora. Then the whole thing had started again.   
  
Janet had patiently fed her intravenously for two weeks until her system had been able to handle real food again, and had instilled in Sam the need to eat regularly. Everything had been fine again for over a year. Then the entity had taken over Sam's body, and once again her system had been thrown off balance. It had taken a month for her to be able to eat normally. After Adrian Conrad had kidnapped her it had taken five weeks to stabilize her system. Now after Nirrti had done her little shuffling of Sam's DNA, it looked like she was in for another bout of what she and Janet had dubbed 'Jolinar's Revenge'.   
  
Dr. Janet Fraiser walked into the infirmary to check on her friend and saw that Sam had barely touched her breakfast. Sam handed her the bucket that had been placed near her as a precaution and sighed.  
  
"Break out the IV nourishment," she grimaced.   
  
"Oh, Sam. I'm so sorry. I was hoping that since everything seems to have been changed back to normal the second time you were in the machine, that you wouldn't have any long-term problems," the Doctor sympathized.   
  
"Me, too. But maybe it won't be as bad this time. I feel pretty good, considering everything. It might just take a day or two to get back to normal," Sam said optimistically.   
  
One week later, she was forced to admit that she was in for the long haul. If anything, she had gotten worse. Even the sight of food was sending her stomach into spasms. And this time there was no hiding it from the guys. Finally, she sat them down with Janet nearby to answer any questions, and told them what was going on. Jonas immediately started asking the questions that all three of them were thinking. How long did this normally last? Couldn't the Tok'Ra use the healing device to help? What did Sam do for nourishment if she couldn't eat? Sam and Janet answered each question as best they could. Finally Sam turned to her teammates.   
  
"I'm sorry to be letting you guys down," she said, to which they immediately protested. "It's probably going to be weeks before I can be back on active duty again. We will need to talk to Hammond about replacing me," she added sadly.   
  
"Temporarily replacing you," O'Neill corrected.   
  
"Yeah, temporarily," Sam said finally, squaring her shoulders slightly, refusing to let this get her down.  
  
Jack O'Neill saw the gesture, and he was overwhelmed with pride. His 2IC was a fighter. It was one of the things that he loved about her. (He had long ago stopped trying to deny to himself that he did indeed love Sam Carter) However, the pride was immediately replaced with a wave of concern. She looked so tired and fragile, which was something that he had rarely seen in her. He remembered how much pain she had been in back in Nirrti's prison, and he thought about how much her body had been through in the last six years. He wondered how much more it could take.  
  
"We shall be looking forward to your swift recovery, Major Carter," Teal'c stated with confidence.   
  
"Thanks, Teal'c," Sam smiled. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad this time. She would at least have the support of her teammates.   
  
One month later, all hopes of a swift recovery had been dashed. Every other time she had fought this, there had been small day-to-day improvements. She would be able to keep down clear liquids one day, soft foods like bananas several days later, until finally she was back to normal. This time it had been five weeks and her condition had not changed. To make matters worse, SG1 had been on non-stop missions for the last two weeks, and she had barely seen her teammates. She was depressed, and after losing ten pounds despite Janet's best efforts, she was starting to feel weak and dizzy. Concentrating in the lab had become difficult, so she was banned from even that work. Sam Carter was fading slowly away.  
  
Dr. Fraiser and General Hammond were concerned enough that they had sent an urgent message to Jacob Carter. The Tok'Ra had responded that they would contact him as soon as they could, but that he was on an undercover mission. He would hopefully be checking in within the next week. Hammond was also working on getting security clearance for a top gastrointestinal doctor out of the University of Chicago. Major Davis was going to fly to Chicago to get the doctor as soon as clearance was granted. In the mean time, Hammond debated on whether he should try to contact the Asgard or the Nox to see if they could help.   
  
He finally decided it was worth a try. Neither had responded as of yet. At least SG1 was due back today. He was determined to give them some downtime to spend with Sam.   
  
Jack O'Neill stepped onto the ramp at the SGC with a sigh of relief. The mission had been grueling, made even more so by their third temporary replacement for Carter, a young Captain Smart, who had not lived up to his name. He really missed Carter. The missions lately had all seemed incredibly boring without her around to smile at his lame jokes, roll her eyes at Jonas' antics and spout techno-babble with the express purpose of confusing him. Thinking of her he looked up at the control room expecting to see her hovering. She usually was when SG1 was due back. But today she was nowhere to be seen. He headed for the showers and then to the infirmary.   
  
"You're all clear, Colonel," Dr. Fraiser reported.  
  
"Thanks, Doc. Have you seen Carter? I thought she might be in here," he commented.   
  
"Actually, she was due fifteen minutes ago. I hope she hasn't snuck into her lab again. I am going to have to admit her here permanently if she doesn't start following my orders and rest," Janet said with an exasperated shake of her head.   
  
'I'll stop by and send her down here. How is she doing, honestly?" Jack asked with concern.  
  
"Not well. She is losing weight and I am really starting to get concerned. And not just about her physical health. She is starting to show signs of deep depression," Janet admitted.   
  
Jack nodded. He had noticed too, and he had felt guilty going off on this last mission and leaving her to cope more or less on her own. He was going to insist on some leave so he and the guys could spend time with her. She needed them, and there was nothing more important than that at the moment. With that thought he reached her lab, and looked around with a frown. She wasn't there. Maybe she was in her quarters. As he turned to leave he spotted something out of the corner of his eye. He stepped around her desk to find Sam lying on the floor. He grabbed the phone, and called in a medical emergency, and then sent up a silent plea as he reached to check her pulse. Strong and steady, thank goodness. Her eyes fluttered open at his touch.  
  
"Sir?" she whispered. "What -?"  
  
"You must have fainted, Carter. Just stay still. I've called for the Doc," he said holding her down lightly by her shoulders.   
  
"I'm fine, Sir. You can let me up," she insisted.   
  
"Just take it easy," he said, helping her to sit up. "Crap, Carter. You look like hell. What have you been doing while we've been gone?"  
  
"Not much, Sir. Just slowly going out of my mind with boredom," she replied with a sigh. He still had his arm around her shoulders and she was enjoying the feel of having him so close way too much.  
  
Just then Janet arrived with a couple of Med Techs and a gurney in tow, and the arm was removed.  
  
"I'm fine Janet. I just got dizzy. I can walk to the infirmary myself," Sam said, silently pleading with the Doctor for a little dignity.   
  
Janet waved away the Techs, and she and the Colonel helped Sam to her feet.   
  
"Sam, you need to get some nourishment in you. Colonel, would you please escort her to the infirmary?" Janet asked.   
  
She had not failed to notice the arm he had had around Sam when she entered the room. Privately, she thought that concern for SG1 and missing the Colonel had a lot to do with Sam's depression. She really needed to have all three of them safely around her if she was going to have any chance of getting better.  
  
Especially a certain CO that she had entirely unprofessional feelings for.   
  
The next day Major Davis arrived with a very grumpy Dr Chesterfield in tow. The doctor made it clear that he did not appreciate being pulled away from his patients. An hour later he had completely changed his tune. Not only was this case medically fascinating, but he had met his new patient and been totally bowled over. As they had discussed her condition and this latest outbreak, he was amazed at her intelligence and courage. When Major Davis had first come to him, he had assured him that this one patient was worth leaving his family and other patients for. He had been skeptical at the time. Now he understood what the Major had meant.   
  
Unfortunately, the more he looked at the case, the more he began to think that the ultimate solution was not something that would be well received. The symptoms she was exhibiting would only be kept under control if she could control the stress and strain that she put on her body. Her stomach and gallbladder were currently working overtime producing acids and bile, and these were adding to the problems the naquada caused. He was amazed that she hadn't had more occurrences of the severity she was currently experiencing. He sighed and prepared to be the bearer of bad news.   
  
"- And so my recommendation is in four parts. First, I believe we should remove the Major's gallbladder. The extra bile that it is producing is only acerbating the problem. Without it, the level of nausea and pain should be significantly reduced. This is a simple operation that can be performed arthroscopically, and the Major will not suffer any ill effects from the loss of the organ. Once that is done, we should be able to stabilize her digestion and get her eating solid foods again using a few of the newer medications out on the market. Dr Fraiser, I will need your help testing a few of them to see which will work best with the Major's body chemistry. At that point, I would recommend that the Major take a vacation. Something that will be stress free, and allow her body time to stabilize, and give her a chance to put some of the lost weight back on. I would think she will need at least a month. And lastly, I really need to emphasize that the Major needs to change her lifestyle. If it were up to me, she would be removed permanently from active duty," Dr Chesterfield concluded to his stunned audience.   
  
Dr Chesterfield scheduled Sam's surgery for the next day. Janet had agreed that removing her gallbladder might help, and at the very least wouldn't do any harm. Hammond kept SG1 on downtime, and as the surgery had gone well, they were able to help keep a very bored Major from going crazy. They played cards, and snuck her down to the rec room to watch movies. Jonas even managed to bring a device that SG6 had found into the infirmary for Sam to look at. By the fourth day after the surgery, Sam was able to keep down toast and a banana, her first real food in six weeks. They celebrated with cake. Well the guys did, Sam had a protein drink specially mixed for her by Dr. Chesterfield who was heading back to Chicago. That left Janet to worry about carrying out the rest of his recommendations. She wasn't too sure she agreed with them, which she discussed with Hammond the day after Chesterfield had left.   
  
"It may do Sam some good to get away, but not by herself. Besides needing someone to keep an eye on her she also just needs to be around family and friends for support. As for being fit for active duty, it's going to be a while, but I certainly am not about to ground her permanently at this point," she concluded.   
  
"Understood, Doctor. But I may need to make that decision and remove her from SG1 if her health could put her team at risk," Hammond said sadly. "But I agree, it's too early to decide that now."  
  
Janet nodded, and left his office. Poor Sam. If she had to leave SG1 she would be devastated. Unless of course something good came out of it. Something like a relationship with a certain CO who was currently off limits. Now that might make all the difference in the world, she thought with a smile. She wondered if she should convince the Colonel to take Sam on that fishing trip.  
  
However the matter of a vacation for Sam was taken out of their hands when Jacob Carter showed up the next day. Appalled at the amount of weight that his daughter had lost, he whisked her off to visit Mark in California as soon as Janet gave the ok.   
  
Five days later he was on the phone checking in with Dr. Fraiser. He reported that physically Sam was doing fine. Her eating was improving daily, and she had even started doing some light exercise. He confided to Janet that he was worried about her mental state. She remained quiet and withdrawn, spending a lot of her time curled up on a lounger in the back yard with a book. Jacob asked if he could talk to Jack, but SG1 was out on a mission and wouldn't be returning until the next day. Jacob was due back in two days, and although Mark had begged Sam to stay longer, she had firmly insisted that she would be going home then too. Jacob figured he would have to tackle this on his own.   
  
On their last night at Mark's, he finally cornered Sam, and sat her down to talk. He knew that she loved being on SG1, but he was really concerned for her health if she kept pushing herself as she had for the last six years. Selmak however was giving him stern warnings to keep his opinions to himself unless he was asked. *If you try to dictate her life, the results could be disastrous* He knew she was right. So he sighed and tried to start a discussion with his daughter, something he hadn't had much practice at.  
  
"Sam, have you thought about what you want to do when you get back?" he started off.  
  
"That's all I have thought about this week, Dad," she said with a shrug. "It doesn't mean that I have come to any conclusions. I love my job, and I don't think I could stand being reassigned to anywhere else. The Pentagon and even Groom Lake would be so boring after the SGC. And I don't want to let the guys down. I hate the thought of them out there without me. On the other hand, I don't ever want to go through this ordeal again. And I don't want to put my team in danger because if my health, although it hasn't happened in the past."  
  
"You really need to talk to Jack about this you know," he commented, causing her head to jerk up to look at him.  
  
"Why?" she asked, knowing it was true. She just hadn't realized that her Dad knew.   
  
"If you decide to leave SG1 you two will have a lot to talk about. I'm no fool Sam, and even if I was blind I have Selmak to point out things that I might otherwise choose to ignore," he said with a grin.  
  
"Oh!" She wasn't sure what else to say, except for the obvious. "How long have you known?"  
  
"I suspected the minute I met Jack at that medal ceremony in Washington. I *knew* the first time I saw the two of you work together," he admitted, and saw her eyes widen in shock. So much for hiding their feelings.   
  
Sam couldn't get to sleep that night. After an hour of staring up at the ceiling, she finally grabbed the comforter off of the bed, and headed out to the lounger where she snuggled up and lay staring up at the stars. She wished that the Colonel was there with her to point out the constellations. Not that she didn't know them. She just liked it when he sat and named them for her. Just like he pretended not to understand some concept just to get her to explain it. It was a safe little way they had to stay connected, to have a private moment between just the two of them. And somehow, lying there thinking of him, lost in the vision of the universe that she loved to explore, things began to make sense.   
  
By dawn, she had made some decisions. First, she wanted to stay at the SGC, even if it meant she had to give up her commission to do so. But she had to resign from SG1. There were a lot of good reasons. She knew that this latest bout of 'Jolinar's Revenge' had been a signal that her body had had enough. Oh, she realized that Teal'c and the Colonel had each been through as much or more than she had, but Teal'c had Junior, and the Colonel had spent a good amount of time in a sarcophagus recently. Her body had had no such relief, and the cumulative effects of two goa'uld blendings plus the entity's habitation, not to mention the various injuries, drugs, and torture devices she had been subjected to over the years was beginning to show. Plus it was time. In her mid-thirties, if she ever wanted to even think about having a life outside of work, it was quickly becoming too late. Which brought her to her last decision. She really needed to see if a certain invitation to go fishing was still on the table. She may have waited too long there already. If that was the case, at least she would be able to move on, and find happiness elsewhere. As the sun rose, she fell into a deep, peaceful sleep. She dreamed she was sitting on a pier in a little black bikini. At least she started out wearing a little black bikini.   
  
Later that morning, Jacob and Sam returned to Colorado, and Sam accompanied her dad to the SGC. Technically she was still on medical leave for another three weeks, but she wanted to stop in and see Janet for a check up. Hopefully she could talk the doctor into letting her back in the lab sooner so she didn't die of boredom. She also wanted to see Hammond and get her status settled. And she wanted to check on the guys, who had just gotten back from a mission late the night before. She found her teammates in the commissary. They jumped to their feet when they saw her, and Jonas swept her into a hug.  
  
"Sam! You're back! We missed you so much," he exclaimed looking pointedly at the Colonel who had been a total grump during the week she had been gone.  
  
"Indeed, Major Carter. We are glad you are back," Teal'c added with a nod and a small smile.  
  
Jack O'Neill took in the sight of his 2IC like a man dying of thirst who had just spotted an oasis. He was relieved to see her looking better. She was still way too thin, but she had a light tan, and the smile was back on her face. He wondered if she had come to any decisions while she was gone. The entire time she had been in California he had wanted to call her, or fly out to see her, and tell her that he loved her, and give her a reason to stay at the SGC. But he hadn't wanted to sway her decision. She needed to do what would make her happy, and keep her healthy. He suddenly realized he had been staring at her in silence.   
  
"Carter, you're looking better. Did you see Jacob off?" he asked.  
  
"Yes, and now I need to stop in to see Janet for a check-up," she said wrinkling up her nose at the thought of another round of poking and prodding.   
  
"Then what, Sam?" Jonas had the courage to ask.  
  
"Then I am going to stop in and see General Hammond to discuss my options. After that I guess I am on leave for three more weeks. I can't imagine what I am going to do for that long. I am hoping that Janet and the General will let me come back and at least do lab-work sooner," she confessed.  
  
"So you *are* coming back to the SGC?" Jack couldn't help but ask.  
  
"I certainly hope so. Although it will probably be a long time before I can be cleared for active duty," she admitted with a sad smile.  
  
Eventually she headed to the infirmary to see Janet, who was thrilled with her progress, but refused to reduce her leave time. Then she was off to Hammond's office, where the General was waiting for her. He had spoken briefly with Jacob before he left, but his friend couldn't tell him anything of Sam's intentions.   
  
He had just asked that George contact him immediately if Sam had any setbacks. Hammond looked at the women sitting across from him and marveled at the strength of character she possessed. She had been though so many horrific events in her life, and yet she still was filled with an aura of quiet confidence.  
  
"Major, how are you doing, really?" he asked with concern.   
  
"Much better, Sir. Although I still have long way to go to be back to 100%. I was hoping to talk briefly about my position here, Sir, so that I don't have to be worrying about it while I finish my leave," she stated, getting right down to business.  
  
"Of course, Major," he said, hoping this was not going to be bad news. The Joint Chiefs had made it clear that they wanted the Major to stay at the SGC with her rank in tact. He had been authorized to offer her any position she felt she was comfortable with to keep her knowledge from walking out the door. But he wanted to know what Sam wanted first. It was her health that was at risk here.  
  
"Sir, I've come to resign from SG1," she said with a sad smile which was returned by the General. "That said, if there is anyway that I can stay at the SGC, that would be my choice, even if it has to be as a civilian scientist."  
  
"Of course you can stay, Major. And there is no need to give up your commission. The Air Force feels very lucky to have you. As a matter of fact the President and Joint Chiefs have personally told me that they want you here at the SGC. They all think very highly of you, Major. As do I, Sam," he added on a more personal note.   
  
Blushing slightly, Sam breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Sir. That is a weight off of my mind. I hope to get myself back into shape soon so that I can go through the gate again, even if it's not as a permanent member of a team."   
  
"I'm sure you will, Major. Now I want you to get out of here and go finish your leave. Do you have any ideas on what you are going to do with the time off? I hear that the fishing is good this time of year in Minnesota," the General said hiding a grin. Now that he knew that Sam was off of SG1 but staying at the SGC it had occurred to him that this could all work out for the best for his two top officers.   
  
Sam's blush deepened, but then she smiled and a dimple appeared. She looked the General in the eye, and replied, "I've heard that too, Sir. I'm hoping to get there soon to find out for myself."  
  
With that she left Hammond's office, and headed to her *former* CO's office.   
  
Jack knew that his 2IC was there before her shadow even darkened his doorway. He loved how he could sense her like that, especially since he suspected that she could do the same with him. He looked up as she tapped on his doorframe.   
  
"Come in, Carter. What can I do for you?" he asked calmly, although silently he was dreading this conversation.   
  
She entered his office and perched on the edge of his desk. "I wanted to let you know that I've officially resigned from SG1, Sir," she said picking up a pen and fiddling with it in Jack O'Neill fashion.  
  
He closed his eyes as a wave of sadness washed over him. He had been trying to prepare himself for this, but he still hadn't been ready to lose her. He knew that he would never enjoy this job quite as much again without her by his side every day.   
  
"I'm so sorry, Carter. Are you staying at the SGC?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.   
  
"Yes, Sir. It seems I'm still needed here," she said with a smile.  
  
"Damn straight you are!" he exclaimed. //Mostly by me// he admitted to himself.  
  
"So, I'm heading home. I was wondering if you were free for dinner tonight." Sam asked trying to calm her nerves.  
  
"Sure. We are officially on downtime until Monday morning. I just have to finish this report and I am free to go," he said with a grimace in the direction of the report on his desk. "Do you want me to invite Teal'c and Jonas for you?"  
  
"Actually, I would like to have everyone over on Sunday. It is supposed to be nice and we could cook out. Tonight I was hoping it could be just you and I, so we could talk about a few things," she said taking the plunge.  
  
"Oh!" O'Neill replied in surprise. Just he and Carter? An unbidden vision of the two of them popped into his head and he ruthlessly squashed it. "Ok, what time?"  
  
"Is 19:30 good? I'll call in an order to Fazoli's and you can pick it up on the way over," she suggested.  
  
"Sounds good. 19:30," he confirmed.  
  
Sam turned to leave and then paused. "Oh, and Jack?" His head snapped up at that. "Don't forget the Tiramisu," she said with a grin. And then she was gone.  
  
Jack wasn't 100% sure, but he thought he had a date with Sam Carter. And it wasn't wrong. The sadness that had swept over him at her announcement that she was leaving SG1 started to lift. He loved her, and it wasn't wrong.   
  
He arrived promptly at 19:30, dinner and dessert in hand. As he rang the bell, the nerves he had been trying to quell for hours suddenly returned. Maybe he was jumping to conclusions. She might just want to talk about her future at the SGC. Then again maybe not, he thought as she answered the door. She was dressed casually in jeans and a top, but both managed to hug her still too slim frame in all the right places. And she was wearing makeup. The nerves kicked up a notch. She took the food from him, and served it up on plates, then poured him a glass of wine. He noticed she was drinking water. Oh yeah- all of those meds and a stomach that still couldn't handle alcohol. He vowed to hold himself to one glass. Probably better under the circumstances anyway.   
  
Dinner was eaten while they chatted amicably. He caught her up on the last couple of missions that SG1 had been on, and she told him about her trip to California. They devoured the dessert while discussing possible birthday presents for Cassie. After they cleared the dishes they moved to the living room, and Sam lit a fire while trying to figure out how to maneuver the conversation around to where she wanted it to go. Jack unwittingly helped her out.   
  
"So what are you going to do with the rest of your leave, Carter?" he asked.  
  
"That's a good question. Janet doesn't want me to go off on my own, and Cassie can't take off of school with semester exams around the corner, so I guess I am stuck here unless I can find someone to go away with me," she responded with a sigh.  
  
"You know that Teal'c and Jonas would love to see more of Earth. They would probably jump at the chance to travel somewhere with you," he suggested.  
  
Sam chuckled. "But the point of the vacation is to *avoid* stress. I don't think that escorting two aliens around qualifies." Silently she prayed he would take the hint. //Come on, Colonel, there is one more possibility//  
  
Jack sat silently for a minute. Was she suggesting what he thought she was suggesting? There was only one way to find out. //Go for it. You can handle it if she turns you down//  
  
"Well you know, that invitation to go fishing with me still stands," he offered staring at the fire.   
  
"I thought you would never ask. I would love to go fishing, Jack," she said with a grin.  
  
His eyes flew to hers and she watched the emotions flicker through them. Surprise, Joy, and then the one she had been watching and hoping for. Love. She knew it was reflected in her eyes. As their lips met for the first time (Not counting those times she didn't remember or were slightly hazy due to a virus) she felt herself melt into him with a sigh. //So worth the wait// she thought as he leaned in to deepen the kiss.   
  
Eventually they parted, resting their foreheads together and sporting matching grins.  
  
"So," he mumbled as he bent his head to nibble her neck. "When do you think Doc will clear you to go fishing?"  
  
"We can ask her on Sunday," Sam said and then let out a little moan. //Have to remember that spot// Jack thought. "It should only be a few more days," she added as she arched her back to give him access to more bare skin.   
  
As much as she was enjoying this, she knew she didn't have the energy to take things much further tonight. The previous night's lack of sleep coupled with a busy, emotionally charged day, was taking its toll on her. Before she could gather the resolve to break from this lovely embrace, Jack was sitting back trying to catch his breath.   
  
"You must be exhausted. I should go," he said reluctantly.   
  
She thought about trying to sleep in that quiet lonely house, and blurted out "Please stay." Then she blushed, but bravely continued. "I want to fall asleep in your arms and wake up with you there in the morning," she admitted.  
  
Wow. How could he refuse? She had just described the subject matter of most of his non-R rated dreams. Well, that, and the whole 'Til Death Do Us Part' scene that usually cropped up too. He could do the just holding her thing. A lot of nights over the past six years he would have killed to be able to just hold her.  
  
So he put out the fire while she changed for bed into an outfit that consisted of floral print pants and a very tiny blue tank top that had him rethinking his ability to do this. Then she handed him a new toothbrush and told him the bathroom was all his, and he just had to smile at how Carter was always prepared. While he was in the bathroom, she locked up, and when he came out she was in bed waiting for him. He stripped down to his tee shirt and boxers and crawled in next to her. She reached around him to turn out the light and stopped on her way back to give him a kiss. Then she grabbed his hand and turned on her side with her back to him, pulling him with so that he was spooned up behind her with one arm around her waist.   
  
"Goodnight, Jack," she whispered, and he felt her relax back into him. God, he hoped there would be no need for side-arm jokes tonight. Eventually he felt her breathing even out, and as he started to drift off himself he had the fleeting thought that he could die happy like this. Not anytime soon of course. Maybe after he had gotten to hold her every night for 30 or 40 years.   
  
Both of them slept soundly, but Jack woke by force of habit at 06:00. He was disorientated for a moment, but then he was overjoyed to remember exactly where he was and just who he had in his arms. She had turned at some point during the night, and was now snuggled up facing him, with one leg tangled between his, and her head tucked under his chin. He realized that one of his hands had slipped under the bottom of her tank top to find bare skin to rest against. He started to draw lazy circles on the smooth skin, and soon her breathing changed and she mumbled something into his chest. Ok, *that* caused an interesting reaction in a certain part of his body. She must have noticed, because she lifted her head and look at him with a huge grin.  
  
"Good morning," she chuckled.  
  
"It certainly is," he agreed as he swooped in for a kiss. And then the words just tumbled out. "I love you, Sam."  
  
He felt her body still, and she looked at him in shock. He really hadn't meant to admit that to her just yet, but if the look of joy that was spreading over her face was any indication, it wasn't too soon.  
  
"I love you too, Jack. I have for a long time," she replied. Then with a devilish little smile, she flipped him over on his back. "And I think it's about time I showed you how much."  
  
It was hours later when they finally made it to the kitchen for breakfast. Sam made toast and scrambled eggs, while Jack put the coffee on. Her mouth watered at the smell. God, she missed the caffeine. But coffee was still on the forbidden list, so she whipped up one of the nutrition drinks that Dr. Chesterfield had developed for her, and made do with that, a couple of slices of toast, and a few pilfered forkfuls of Jack's eggs. As they sat eating, she couldn't help marveling on how nice this was. Normal and right. Any doubts that she'd had about her previous day's decisions vanished. No matter how this turned out in the future, today she was truly happy.   
  
After breakfast Jack called the base, and invited Teal'c, Jonas and Janet to his place for a cookout the next day. They had decided to do it at his place, because he insisted he had a better grill. Then he had Sam help him make a list of what she could eat so he could get groceries for the next day, and for dinner that night. Sam was going to spend her standard Saturday afternoon with Cassie, and then head over to his place for dinner. After he left, she optimistically packed a bag with clothes for the next day, and everything she would need to stay at Jack's for two nights. Better to be prepared. Then she headed out to run a couple of errands before she went to Janet's. She was glad her friend was on duty today so she wouldn't have to face her just yet. Tomorrow would be soon enough to share the news with their friends.  
  
That night was just as amazing as the morning had been. Jack grilled chicken and vegetables on the grill, and then they spent hours up on his deck looking at the stars. Sam happily let him point out all of the constellations to her. Eventually the air got too cool, and the kisses got too heated, so they headed back inside. This time Jack issued the plea.  
  
"Stay." And then he chuckled when a slightly embarrassed Sam got her bag out of the car. "My little Girl Scout," he teased.   
  
"Girl Scout?" she questioned as she pulled him in close and started doing things that were not in any handbook. "I'd like to see a Girl Scout try this."  
  
They had spent hours in each other's arms, making love, and talking about everything and nothing. In the morning they shared pancakes, and Jack was glad to see that Sam managed to eat two. Then they spent the next couple of hours working companionably together to get ready for their friend's arrival. By the time Janet and Cassie showed up, Teal'c and Jonas had persuaded Jack to bring out a football to toss around, leaving Sam to open the door to the two women.   
  
"Hey, Cass. The guys are out back trying to teach Jonas the fine art of throwing a football. You might want to go rescue him, or you can just sit back and watch. It's highly amusing," Sam said, knowing that Janet was going to want to give her the once over before she allowed herself to settle in and enjoy the party.   
  
"So, Sam. You look good. More rested than Friday. How are you eating?" Janet asked in full Doctor mode.  
  
"Good, Jan. My appetite has improved a lot in the last two days," Sam was able to answer honestly. //Of course Jack has been helping me work up an appetite// she thought.   
  
Then Janet paused and took a good look at her friend. "Oh my god!" she almost shouted. "What have you been up to?" she asked dropping her voice to a stage whisper.   
  
"What do you mean?" Sam asked, trying to maintain an innocent air.   
  
"You are positively glowing," her friend accused.  
  
"Yeah, well I feel a lot better," Sam said trying to wiggle out of a confession.  
  
Janet was having none of it. "Sam," she said in her best 'I know how to hurt you' warning voice.  
  
"Ok! I resigned from SG1 on Friday, and Jack and I have been having sex all weekend. Is that what you wanted to hear?" Sam exclaimed.  
  
"Only if it's true. Wow, really?" Janet asked amazed.  
  
"Oh yeah," Sam giggled. "Come on. We need to tell Teal'c and Jonas the news."  
  
"That you and Jack are having sex?" Janet teased.  
  
Sam rolled her eyes. "No. That I am no longer on SG1. I am *not* discussing my sex life with those two."  
  
Jonas and Teal'c were upset by Sam's news, but they were so glad to see her looking better, that the sadness was overshadowed by their relief that she was getting well again. It also didn't take long for Teal'c to pick up on the shift in his two friend's relationship. When Jack got a 7-Up for Sam to drink with dinner, he watched as their hands lingered and their eyes clashed.   
  
"Congratulations to you both O'Neill, Major Carter. It is good to see you both happy," he stated simply.  
  
Jonas and Cassie looked quickly from Sam to Jack, and then Cassie let out a squeal.   
  
"Are you two really together?" she asked.  
  
Both of them grinned and nodded.  
  
"Sam, that is so great!" Cassie proclaimed. "Are you going to get married?"  
  
"Cass, we've been on like one date. Give us a break," Sam admonished. But Jack simply winked at Cassie from behind Sam's back.   
  
As the evening ended, Janet proclaimed that she would let Sam go to Minnesota at the end of that week if she continued to make good progress. So the next morning, Sam and Jack parted with a kiss, and Jack went off to request some leave from General Hammond. The General was more than happy to give it to him, especially since it meant that Jacob owed him $100 the next time he saw him. And Sam went off shopping.  
  
She was on a quest to find the perfect black bikini.  
  
The end! 


	2. To Have and To Hold

Title: "To Have and to Hold"  
  
Author: Jackie W.   
  
Major Sam Carter stood in the control room and gave a small sigh as she watched the wormhole shut down. That had been harder than she had expected. Today was her first official day back at the SGC since she had transferred off of SG1 due to her health and she had just watched her old team, along with their third attempt at a replacement for her, head off on a mission. Behind her General Hammond saw her straighten her shoulders and turn to leave the room.   
  
"Major, if you have time, I'm about to meet with Lt. Colonel Uterell. I would like to introduce you to him," he said, knowing that the best way to distract her was to keep her busy.   
  
"Certainly, Sir. I am anxious to meet him," Sam replied as they headed up the stairs to the General's office.   
  
While Sam had been sick, Colonel Tucker, Hammond's Chief of Staff, had retired. Although as a team field member, Sam had reported to her CO up through the XO (who both happened to be O'Neill) she had worked closely with Colonel Tucker, since all of her lab staff, and the tech sergeants and engineers she worked with reported up through him. After Major Samuels had left, Tucker's quiet sense of humor and southern charm had been a welcome relief. Both she and O'Neill had   
  
truly respected him as he was a good man who had run the SGC staff efficiently.  
  
The new COS, Lt. Colonel Uterell, had started while she and Jack had been off at the cabin in Minnesota. When they had returned Jack had gone back to work, and one of the first orders of business had been a meeting between Hammond and his three command officers, O'Neill his XO, Fraiser the CMO, and Uterell the COS. Janet had reported back to Sam with the details.   
  
"Sam, I swear. I don't know what you did to the man, although I can guess, but Colonel O'Neill sat there the whole meeting looking tan and relaxed, with this big grin on his face, cracking jokes. He drove Uterell crazy. And just when Uterell had written him off as a total goof-off, the Colonel rattled off a bunch of really good suggestions to resolve some of the issues we had been discussing and the meeting was over. Poor Uterell didn't know what had hit him. There isn't   
  
going to be any love lost between those two, I can tell you that," she had said.  
  
Now it was time for Sam to meet her new CO, the man Jack O'Neill had christened 'Utterly Useless'. She was determined to keep an open mind, even if Janet had claimed that the Lt. Colonel needed a full physical to check for 'a stick up his butt'. As she entered Hammond's office through the briefing room door, there was a knock on the outer door. Hammond beckoned for the Lt. Colonel to enter, and then there was a brief awkward moment as Uterell stood at attention in front of   
  
the General, while Sam was obviously at ease.  
  
"At ease, Colonel," Hammond commanded and then turned to Sam. "Colonel Uterell, this is Major Sam Carter, our Stargate expert," he continued.  
  
Sam snapped to attention. "A pleasure to meet you, Sir," she intoned perfectly, then relaxed as her CO signaled for her to take a seat.   
  
They spent the next hour discussing how the labs and research projects were currently organized. Uterell made a few comments and suggestions, none of which were anything new. Then he brought up the subject of time sheets. He thought each scientist, lab tech and engineer should be logging their time to projects so they could keep track of how much time was spent on each one. It was an idea that had been discussed in the past, and rejected. Sam explained to him that a   
  
portion of the staff, especially the lead researchers, were civilian. They all worked long hours, which the Air Force could not afford to pay them for. And they certainly could not have them cutting back on the overtime, which might occur if they suddenly were keeping track of their time. Hammond agreed with her. Then another thought made her chuckle.   
  
"Besides, Sir, could you imagine the categories we would have to come up with? Try logging your time as 'Possessed by an alien entity', or 'Recovering from electrocution'," she noted with a grin.  
  
"We would need to come up with some creative categories for you, if past experience is any indicator, Major," Hammond agreed smiling.   
  
Sam glanced over at the Lt. Colonel and saw him frowning. He obviously didn't get the joke, so he must not have gotten very far into the mission reports that the Colonel had given him to read. At that point Hammond dismissed them, and Sam headed off to her labs with Uterell in tow.  
  
"So you used to be on SG1," he commented.  
  
"For six years," she acknowledged.  
  
"I'll bet that you are glad to be out from under O'Neill's command. I can't believe you held out for six years," he said shaking his head in bewilderment.  
  
Sam stopped in her tracks and turned to face him. "Actually, I miss it already. I loved being on SG1, and the Colonel was the best CO I've ever had. If I ever get my own command, I'll owe my being ready to him," she stated simply.   
  
Uterell looked at her in surprise. "You're kidding right? The man is sarcastic, has no respect for authority, and from what I read is a borderline head case. Plus, he doesn't understand any of the scientific aspects of gate travel. He must have driven you crazy when you tried to explain things to him," he exclaimed.   
  
Sam smiled. So Jack had obviously given his patented hard ass Colonel routine and had completely snowed the man. So much for any people skills Uterell might have possessed. She remembered that Tucker had seen through O'Neill in about five minutes flat. She shook her head in dismay. She was really starting to dislike this man.  
  
"Yes, Sir, You could say that he drove me crazy," was all she said in reply. After all it was the truth. Jack O'Neill had alternately exasperated, amused, and aroused her for the last six years. She was well and truly crazy about him.   
  
They reached the elevator just as the door opened and Major Griff walked out.   
  
"Sam, you're back!" he exclaimed with a huge grin. "You look good, too. Something must have agreed with you while you were away," he said with a wink.  
  
"Thanks, Griff. Can't imagine what it could have been," she quipped.  
  
"So where's Jack?" he asked.  
  
"SG1 went through the gate an hour ago," she admitted sadly.  
  
"Sorry, Sam. I know that's gotta hurt," he sympathized. "Hey, more lab time though! You were always griping about not having enough time to do research on all the things we found. And you should see the great doohickey we brought back for you this morning," he added.   
  
"Really! Guess I'd better get to work then," she smiled as she and Uterell got onto the elevator.   
  
"Welcome back, Major," Griff waved as he headed off.   
  
On the way to her lab, Sam was greeted enthusiastically by half a dozen more of her colleges, including Sgt. Siler who was positively beaming to have her back. He had been trying to cope with all of the gate problems for the last several months, and was thrilled to have the expert back on site. (Although he had called her on her cell phone twice when he had been stumped). By the time she had reached her lab she was blushing slightly from all of the compliments. Then   
  
she walked into her lab and turned even redder. She had forgotten that her lab techs had decorated in honor of her return. Lt. Colonel Uterell looked around at the balloons and banners in disapproval.  
  
"I'll clean it all up before I leave today, Sir," she commented.  
  
"See that you do, Major. And there will be a memo out on appropriate workplace decorum. See that your staff all read and understand it," he ordered. Then he picked up a folder that was on her desk. "These are all of the important memos that have come out while you were gone, in date order. I wanted to make sure you didn't miss any of them as you go through your e-mail. Please get yourself up to date on everything in here as soon as possible," he added, and with that he   
  
turned and left the room. Sam couldn't help looking at his butt as he walked away to see if she could see the stick.  
  
She sighed. Well, she'd had tough CO's before. It wasn't anything she couldn't handle. Of course she didn't realize that Uterell's dislike for her was going to grow once he figured out that she was involved with Jack O'Neill. He must not have listened to the base gossip, because he didn't figure it out until SG1 came back from their mission several days later.   
  
Sam was in the control room when they arrived back, actually close to being on time. She paused the work that she was doing once Sgt. Davis announced SG1's code and stood by the window to watch her guys return. She glanced over her shoulder as Hammond walked behind her on his way to the stairs and smiled.   
  
"They're on time? That's got to be a good sign," he commented on his way out of the room.   
  
"I hope so," Sam murmured to no one in particular. She was hoping they would find a new teammate soon so that she could stop feeling guilty about abandoning the team, even if she hadn't really had much choice in the matter.  
  
As soon as she saw the expression on Jack's face though, she knew that he wasn't happy. He barked out a few orders to the young Lt. Stahl and then turned to look up at the control room. He spotted Sam and rolled his eyes to signify his feelings. Then he turned to Hammond who had made his way down to greet them.  
  
"Another one bites the dust. You're a tough act to follow, Major," Sgt. Davis said with a grin.  
  
"What was the pool up to?" she asked.  
  
"10-1 against him actually making it to a second mission," Davis informed her.  
  
Neither of them had seen Lt. Colonel Uterell enter the room behind them.  
  
"Major, Sergeant, I hope you are not suggesting that there is betting going on amongst my staff," he asked outraged.  
  
Sgt. Davis sent a panicked look towards Sam. She knew that he always got in on the pools. But she had not spent six years with O'Neill as a CO without learning how to bend the truth a bit.  
  
"Of course not, Sir. The SG teams have several pools going though. It helps to relieve the stress," she informed him, giving him her best innocent look.   
  
"And O'Neill allows this? I should report it to Hammond," Uterell threatened.   
  
General Hammond chose that moment to ascend the stairs from the gate room.   
  
"Report what to me, Colonel?" he inquired.  
  
Uterell hesitated. He could use this as ammunition to hold over O'Neill's head if he played his cards right. Sam however had no fear of letting the General know about the betting. Heck, he probably had money in the pool.  
  
"Colonel Uterell was concerned to learn that there was a bet on whether Lt. Stahl would continue on SG1 or not, Sir," she explained with a grin.  
  
"Unfortunately, the Lieutenant has already indicated that he would prefer to transfer to another SG team. I should know better than to bet against O'Neill. Tell me, just how did you survive him those first few missions, Major?" Hammond asked shaking his head in confusion.  
  
"I was good at blowing thing up, Sir," she chuckled.   
  
"Oh, well," he sighed in resignation. "At least I can still win my money back on the big pool," he added.  
  
"Which one is that, Sir?" Sam inquired curiously as she was usually up on the current betting.  
  
"The one to guess your wedding date, Major. I have the first week in July," he commented, and laughing he left the Sergeant and Lt. Colonel to deal with the stunned Major.  
  
Sam slowly turned to Sgt. Davis who was trying to look busy at the keyboard.  
  
"Sergeant!" she snapped off in her best command voice. "Since when is there a pool on my wedding date?"  
  
Davis started at his shoes unable to meet her eyes. "Since the pool on you and Colonel O'Neill getting together was settled, Major," he admitted waiting for the explosion.  
  
She had actually known about that one. Janet had told her about it when they first become friends almost six years ago. Sam had been embarrassed, as at the time she was still trying hard to be one of the guys. But at the time she really hadn't thought of her CO in that way. Oh, she thought he was attractive and funny, but as far as she knew he was still married, so the pool had seemed a bit foolish. Later, she had wondered how many times they had rolled over the dates   
  
as the years went by. She'd been surprised that the pool had survived once the originators (Kawalsky and Ferretti) were both gone from the SGC.  
  
"Who won by the way?" she asked, surprising the Sergeant who looked up to see her smiling.  
  
"Major Griff," he answered. "And the odds on favorite for your wedding is the first week in August," he added, subtly letting her know that those were his dates in the pool.  
  
"He hasn't asked," she confided quietly.  
  
"He will," Davis confidently told her.  
  
At this point Uterell finally made his presence known.  
  
"If you two are finished gossiping, I recommend that you get back to work," he ordered, angry that they had virtually ignored him for the last several minutes.  
  
Later, the Lt. Colonel tracked down Major Carter in her lab.   
  
"So that's the reason that you left SG1? I'm surprised that Hammond let you two get away with it," he accused.   
  
"I don't know what you mean, Sir," Sam stated trying to keep her cool.  
  
"Having an affair with your CO is a good way to get court marshaled, Major," he advised.  
  
"You are my CO, Sir, not Colonel O'Neill," Carter reminded him.  
  
"Still, I bet a review board would have a field day with this one, Major," he threatened.  
  
"We haven't done anything that wouldn't stand up to a full review, Sir. Now if you'll excuse me this simulation is at a critical point. I need to get back to work if you want those reports first thing tomorrow," she stated calmly.  
  
Uterell was a bit taken aback by her attitude. He had figured that by threatening her with this he was going to get a hold over her, but she hadn't even blinked. He wasn't used to junior officers whom he couldn't completely control by making them fear him. Finally, as she continued to work quietly, he turned and left in frustration.  
  
Carter fumed after he left. The man was an idiot. If he thought he could frighten her with a few misguided threats he obviously hadn't done his homework. She had stared down Goa'uld System Lords. One puny Lt. Colonel didn't stand a chance.  
  
Not that he didn't try. Over the next couple of weeks he did everything he could to get under her skin.He had her things moved out of SG1's locker room, even though no new member had been permanently assigned. He set what he thought were   
  
impossible deadlines not realizing that Sam Carter routinely did the impossible before lunch. He established a whole set of new reports to be produced weekly for each lab project. Sam just set up a computer program that generated them automatically, so her staff wouldn't have to deal with them. Through it all Jack was there supporting her and giving her strength. When he found her in SG1's locker room staring at her empty cubicle, he had told her that she was welcome to join him in there anytime she wanted, making her laugh as he swept her up   
  
and took her into the shower with him. He made sure despite the deadlines she faced that she ate, and rested, and took time out to exercise so she could hopefully be declared fit for active duty again someday soon. Their relationship   
  
flourished and by the time she had been back at the SGC for a month they were living together. Jack was ready to take it a step further.  
  
Sam had planned on spending Saturday morning in her lab, and then stopping by Janet's to spend a couple of hours with Cassie. The Fraisers had strict instructions to not let her leave their house until at least 17:30. When she arrived home, her first thought was the Jack must have broken something and he was expecting her to be mad. Huge bunches of roses were strategically placed around the house. Then she saw the dining room table, also adorned with roses,   
  
as well as candles and a bottle of champagne. Soft music was playing in the background. Even as she took in the whole atmosphere two strong arms encircled her from behind, and lips brushed up against her ear.   
  
"What are you up to Jack O'Neill," she asked in amusement even as she leaned back into his embrace and tilted her head back against his shoulder so he could kiss her.  
  
"What makes you think that I am up to something?" he asked innocently as his lips met hers.  
  
After they finally broke apart, she raised an eyebrow and waited, refusing to be distracted. He just knew that she had learned that eyebrow thing from Teal'c. He sighed knowing she wasn't going to let it drop.  
  
"Isn't it obvious? I'm trying to be romantic," he confessed.  
  
She turned in his arms to face him both eyebrows now raised in inquiry. "Is this a random act of romance, or is there an ulterior motive?" she asked.  
  
"I wanted tonight to be special," he explained as he pulled a black velvet box from his pocket.   
  
Her eyes widened in shock as he opened the box to reveal a diamond and sapphire ring that took her breath away. Then he was down on one knee and she realized that his man who hated cliches was acting out the ultimate one just for her. She wouldn't have thought it was possible, but she fell a bit more in love with him in that one moment.   
  
"Sam. I'm really bad at expressing my feelings, but I love you. I never expected to feel this way again, but you breezed into my life six years ago and slowly knocked down all of the walls I had built to protect my heart. Before I even realized what was happening you had become as important to me as the air I breathe. I can't imagine my life without you. Will you marry me?" he asked holding her gaze so that she could see all of the love he felt for her.   
  
She wanted to tell him that for someone who didn't do the 'talking about his feelings' thing that he had done an amazing job. She wanted to tell him that she felt the same way. But her heart was pounding and her brain refused to provide the words so she said the only thing that mattered at the moment.  
  
"Yes."  
  
Later that night Sam awoke in Jack's arms and thought back on the evening. They'd had a wonderful Italian dinner that Jack had ordered from one of their favorite restaurants, accompanied by the champagne, which they had finished while sitting out on his rooftop under the stars wrapped in blankets. Sam had finally managed to say all that had eluded her earlier. Then they had moved inside to the warmth and comfort of the bedroom to continue the activities started on the roof.  
  
It had definitely been a night to remember. Now Sam watched as her ring glinted in the moonlight in awe. Three months ago she had been sitting in Nirrti's prison cell waiting to die, regretting all of the things that she had not done. Telling Jack that she loved him had been number one on the list. Now, her whole life had turned around, and while she missed being on SG1, she wouldn't go back if she could. She smiled and snuggled into Jack's warm body as she drifted off into a contented sleep.   
  
The next few days were a whirlwind of activity. When they finally got out of bed Sunday morning they had called around and gotten Jonas, Teal'c, Janet, Cassie, and General Hammond all to stop over for an impromptu celebration. After congratulations and hugs, the first question had been "When's the wedding?"   
  
Sam and Jack had smiled. They knew that every one of their friends probably had money riding on this, but they had tried to pick a date with an open mind. As it turned out, they had selected August 2nd for a small family ceremony, and were planning a huge reception the next day for all of the SGC. Sam was pleased when she remembered that it was Sgt. Davis' week in the pool.   
  
The next day the entire SGC had heard the news within an hour of the two officers signing in. By lunch time just about everyone had stopped by to congratulate them. A sign was finally posted with the wedding date, and an official invitation to the reception to be held on the mountain to help stem the tide of well wishers. Uterell was furious.   
  
He had been threatening people all morning trying to get them back to work, but the engagement announcement had created a holiday atmosphere at the SGC that was not to be dampened. Eventually Hammond called him to his office. He really wasn't happy with the way that his COS was trying to rule with an iron fist. He was hoping to get him to see that this was an error.  
  
"Colonel, the morale at the SGC is the best it has been in over a year. The hubbub will die down in a day or two, and then we will reap the rewards of teams that are happy and productive," he explained patiently.   
  
Uterell didn't agree, but he knew enough to keep his mouth shut. He would bide his time. Eventually he would be able to discredit O'Neill and Carter and then he hoped Hammond would listen to some of his ideas.  
  
The opportunity to take Carter down a peg or two came a week later. It did not however turn out at all the way the Lt. Colonel had planned.  
  
The Klaxon's sounded Friday morning as Hammond, O'Neill and Uterell were meeting in the General's office. Having no teams due back, the three men hurried down to the control room.   
  
"It's the Tok'Ra, Sir," Davis announced.  
  
"Open the iris," Hammond ordered as the three continued down to the gate room.  
  
Hammond and O'Neill weren't surprised to see Jacob emerge from the gate. A message had been sent off earlier in the week asking him to stop by when he got a chance. Jack smiled as he saw Sam enter through the blast doors. Then Uterell shocked them all into silence.  
  
"Major, I don't believe you were called to the gate room. Please go back to your own work," he stated crossly. Then as she paused he barked, "That's an order, Major!"  
  
She could have just ignored him. She knew that Hammond would have backed her up. But she in a split second knew that Uterell had just made a fatal mistake, and given her a golden opportunity.  
  
"Yes, Sir! Right away, Sir!" she replied and meekly turned on her heel and left the room.  
  
When the blast doors closed behind her, she leaned up against the door and laughed. Gosh, what she wouldn't do to be a fly on the wall in there right now.   
  
The stories of what occurred in the gate room that day were told for years. Most of the tales were highly exaggerated, but all agreed on the basic facts. Jacob had been furious. So furious that Selmak had taken over, and with glowing eyes and thundering voice had asked Uterell why 'Our daughter' had been ordered from the room. Within the hour by mutual agreement, Hammond had transferred Uterell back to Washington.  
  
Jack had found Sam in her lab after the confrontation.   
  
"You are truly evil," he commented. "Have I told you that I love that about you?"  
  
Sam gave him a grin. "Was there bloodshed?"  
  
"No, but even I was shaking in my boots. You're sure that your Dad and Selmak like me right?" he queried. "Because I'm not sure that I want to tell them our news in their current mood if there is the slightest chance that they won't approve."  
  
"If I'm happy, then they're happy, promise," she assured him.  
  
"Are you happy?" he asked.  
  
She gave him one of her blinding smiles and nodded.  
  
"Then let's go see Dad," he said as he waved her out the door.  
  
They found Jacob in Hammond's office where the General was trying to calm him down.  
  
"Colonel, Major. I've been assuring Jacob that Colonel Uterell has not been upsetting Sam on a regular basis. He and Selmak are worried about your health, Major," Hammond explained relieved to have the two officers there to finally sort all of this out. "I'll leave you to talk," he added as he beat a hasty exit from the room.  
  
"Dad, you know I can take care of myself. But thanks for playing along," Sam said going over and giving her father a hug. "Besides, I've had much more important things on my mind than that idiot CO," she grinned.  
  
Jacob looked from Sam to Jack and back again. "Is there something I should know?" he asked hopefully.  
  
"Jacob, I've asked Sam to marry, me, and although I have no idea why, she said yes," Jack explained.  
  
Jacob looked Sam over carefully. No longer thin and haunted looking, she appeared fit and healthy. And happy. That was good enough for him.  
  
He gathered her in for another hug.  
  
"Congratulations, baby," he murmured. Then he stepped away to shake Jack's hand. "You've obviously been taking good care of her. Thanks, Jack. And I can think of a lot of reasons why she said yes. You're a good man, and you make her happy. As long as you keep making her happy, Selmak and I will not have to hurt you," he warned.  
  
"Understood, Sir," Jack replied more than a bit relieved.  
  
"I'm starved," Jacob announced. "Scaring the crap out of junior officers always gives me an appetite. Let's go get something to eat and you can fill me in on what's been going on since I last saw you."   
  
Two hours later Jacob was ready to leave. He promised that he would try to get back for a visit at least once before the wedding, and he made Sam promise to call Mark and tell him the news. They saw him off in the gate room, and then headed back to Hammond's office where the General was waiting for them.  
  
"Well, Major, it seems that I am in need of a new COS. I'd offer you the position, but I need you too much in the lab," Hammond complained.  
  
"And I don't think you would enjoy the job anyways."  
  
"No, Sir. I hate paperwork almost as much as the Colonel does," she admitted.   
  
"Hmph, well I'll request someone to be transferred in. Hopefully they will be a better fit than Colonel Uterell was. You two are dismissed. Go home, enjoy your week-end. You've caused enough chaos for one week," he ordered.  
  
Later that night, Sam and Jack were relaxing after dinner when Jack grabbed the remote and turned off the TV. Sam turned to him with a questioning look.  
  
"Have something in mind, Flyboy?" she asked grinning.  
  
"I thought we could go over our wedding vows," he replied to her surprise.  
  
"We have plenty of time, Jack," she said.  
  
"I know, but there are some parts I think we should go over," he stated seriously.  
  
She grew quiet and looked at him in concern. "I don't want to say the 'obey' part," she admitted.  
  
He smiled. "That's fine. I certainly don't expect you to obey me anyway," he teased, earning himself a playful slap.  
  
"Well the rest of the standard vows are fine with me unless you have something else in mind," she said.  
  
"No, the standard vows are good. I mean we've had a lot of practice on some parts already. The whole 'In Sickness and In Health' part for example," he replied.  
  
"And the 'For Better or For Worse' part. You've certainly seen me at my worst. Grumpy, covered in mud, no sleep. Not to mention the whole 'snake in my head'scenario. Plus you've dealt with my Dad. I promise that there is better than all of that," she chuckled.  
  
"Yeah, you've put up with way more bad stuff from me than I could ever expect you to. Plus you haven't even met my family yet. That's a treat you will want to avoid," he grimaced.  
  
"No, I really want to meet them. If you're going to put up with Dad and Selmak, not to mention Mark and his anti-military rants, then I think I can put up with a few non-alien in-laws," she protested.   
  
"We'll see," he said as he started to distract her by kissing her neck. "Then there is the 'For Richer or Poorer' part. Sorry, Angel, but there is no family fortune hidden away," he admitted with a sigh that sent shivers through her as his warm breath wafted across her skin.  
  
"That just leaves the 'Til Death do us Part' thing. I think we should skip that. It's too much like tempting fate," she said as her hands started to roam over his back.   
  
"You missed the part I wanted to work on," he complained as his hands worked their way under the hem of her shirt.  
  
She felt his fingers creeping upwards as she asked on a moan, "What's that?"  
  
"To Have and to Hold," he whispered as he gathered her in for a passionate kiss.  
  
(To be continued in "For Better or For Worse") 


	3. For Better or For Worse

Author's Notes: Gotta love those in-laws. Totally inspired by own mother-in-law from hell. And dedicated to my sister-in-laws whom I love dearly.   
  
As always feed back craved!   
  
For Better or For Worse  
  
Kathleen O'Brien had just walked in the door from dropping off her youngest daughter at dance class when the phone rang.   
  
"Hello," she answered slightly distracted as she dropped the mail on the counter along with her keys and purse.  
  
"Hey, Bonnie, it's Jack," came the reply.  
  
She smiled. Only her brother Jack still ever used the nickname her grandfather had bestowed upon her at birth. And only she knew just how to tease him back.  
  
"Jonny! It's good to here from you," she grinned.  
  
She heard Jack groan on the other end of the phone. She knew he hated to be called Jonny. As soon as he was old enough he had insisted on using Jack instead.  
  
"How are things in Chicago, Kath," he asked.  
  
Since she figured he didn't mean the weather, she guessed he was calling to check on the family. She knew that he attempted to call their parents once in a while, but that the conversations were strained. It was only through her that he got any real news.   
  
"Everything's fine here. Mom and Dad each had a nasty case of the flu a month ago, but they've both recovered nicely. We're all getting ready for Sean's high school graduation," she said.   
  
They chatted about her kids, their nephew Sean's college plans, and their other siblings and their kids for a while. Strangely enough, although she and Jack were the furthest apart in age of the five O'Neill siblings, she was the one he called on a regular basis. But they had always been close, even as kids. Kathleen had been a bright, outgoing little girl who adored her oldest brother and had always followed him around. Even though he was 10 years older, he had let her tag along most of the time. At sixteen, when he had made the varsity hockey team, she had been his loudest cheerleader, often sitting in the stands bundled up in a coat and mittens to stay warm.   
  
His parents had never understood it when he joined the Air Force, but Kathleen had been proud of him, especially when he had shown up at her own high school graduation in his dress blues, already adorned with quite a few impressive medals. When Charlie had died, Kathleen had been the only one that had not tried to force him talk about it. Back at the house after the funeral she had found him in Charlie's room, and had simply sat next to him in silence, with tears running down her cheeks. His parent's grief had driven another wedge between them and their oldest son, and his divorce two years later had seriously strained his relationship with everyone except for Kathleen. To this day if the folks found out that Kathleen had heard from Jack their first question would be whether he and Sara were back together yet.   
  
In return, she was the only one who kept up with the events in Jack's life. Not that he told her much. But she knew that Sara was happily dating an accountant she had met at work, and that Jack had teammates that he was obviously close to. He occasionally let small things slip. She knew that Daniel's wife had died a few years back and that Daniel himself had 'left them' last year, (whatever that meant) and they had gotten a new team member named Jonas. He regaled her with a few funny stories about Teal'c who was not from the US. His misunderstanding of the culture was often the source of amusement. And Carter was some sort of genius. Suddenly Kathleen remembered something important from their last conversation.  
  
"How's your 2IC?" she inquired.  
  
That had been an odd conversation just over three months ago. She hadn't heard from Jack for quite a while and was getting worried when he finally called and apologized. He'd been out of the country for a month, he said, and on his return had been swamped with work. Plus he'd been spending his downtime at the bedside of his 2IC who was very sick. Kathleen had offered to light a candle for him.  
  
"Her," Jack had replied. "Major Samantha Carter."  
  
That the 'Carter' he had mentioned several times in the past was a female was only the first surprise of the conversation. She had been expecting him to brush off her offer to light a candle, knowing that he had not been inside a church since Charlie's funeral mass. Instead, he had thanked her for the offer, saying Carter could use all the help she could get. Kathleen had been very curious, but it hadn't seemed like a good time to pry. Now she wanted the whole story.  
  
"Sam's doing much better, but she's not my 2IC any more. When she realized that it would be a while before the doc would clear her for active duty, she transferred and took another position here on base," he explained.   
  
"So how come you never told me before that 'Carter' was a woman," Kathleen teased. The pause on the other end of the line really got her curiosity peaked. "Jack?"  
  
"Yeah, well, I wasn't supposed to think of her as a woman Kathleen. She was my 2IC, strictly off limits," he admitted with a sigh.  
  
"And now?" Kathleen encouraged him.  
  
"That's kinda why I called. Sam and I are getting married August 2nd. I'd love for you to come for the wedding, Kath. You, Mike, and the girls," he announced.   
  
Kathleen shook off her shock "Congratulations Jack!" she exclaimed. With her free hand she flipped the calendar and hesitated only long enough to look at the date. "We'll be there. I wouldn't miss it for the world," she assured him. "So, I need to know all about my future sister-in-law. Obviously she is a Major in the Air Force. And I think you mentioned once that 'Carter' is a scientist. So spill, big brother," she insisted.   
  
He covered the basics. She was smart (two PHD's is areas of science that Kathleen knew nothing about) and beautiful, (he promised to send pictures). Her Dad was a retired General who still did consulting work for the Air Force, and he and her brother and his family in San Diego were the only close relatives that she had. They had acknowledged feelings for each other several years ago, but circumstances had kept them from being able to pursue a relationship until recently.   
  
"So, have you told Mom and Dad?" Kathleen asked.   
  
"Not yet. I'm calling them next. Expect an outraged call from them later today," he sighed.  
  
Kathleen stopped and thought for a moment. "Jack, why don't you and Sam come out for Sean's graduation. We are all going out to dinner afterwards, and we are going to have a barbecue the next day. The whole family could meet Sam. The two of you can stay here. We have a spare room," she suggested.  
  
"I don't know Kath. Sam's under orders to avoid stress, and Mom and Dad are likely to put her through the wringer. Besides, won't one of the Bobbsey twins be staying with you?" he hesitated.  
  
Kathleen laughed. She hadn't heard her twin sisters called that name in ages. They had always hated it, so of course Jack had constantly used the misnomer, no matter how many times they pointed out that the literary characters had each been a brother and sister set of twins, not identical girls. The twins were the only two siblings to still live in Minnesota, each not too far from their parents. Her other brother Patrick, who was Sean's father, had moved to the Chicago area a few years before she and Michael had.  
  
"No, our spare room is free. Mom and Dad and Eileen are staying at Patrick's house. Colleen and her crew are staying at her in-laws so they can get a visit to them in at the same time," she explained.  
  
"Aren't you afraid that your house will be struck by lightening or a plague will strike you down if you let two unmarried people sleep in the same room together? Or worse yet, that it will bring down the wrath of Mom?" he protested.  
  
"I think we'll survive, and I can handle Mom. Just no headboard banging while you are here. The spare room is next to Maggie's and she is old enough to figure it out," she requested.  
  
"No problem. I'll talk to Sam and see what she thinks. Give me the dates, and hold open the spare room. I'll call back in a couple of days," he finally agreed.  
  
As predicted, an hour later Kathleen got a call from her parents. They were not happy campers. Kathleen let them rant and rave for a bit, and then changed the subject to ask what they had gotten Sean as a graduation present. That worked for a bit until they got around to the topic of the party, and the fact that Jack might come and bring 'that woman'. Kathleen sighed. It was going to be a long two weeks.  
  
Three days later Kathleen looked at the ringing phone with indecision. It was probably just Mom or Dad calling again to give her their latest reason why Jack should not be marrying this Sam Carter person. She sighed in resignation and answered the phone, for once actually hoping it was just a salesperson.   
  
"May I speak to Kathleen O'Brien please?" a polite female voice inquired.  
  
"Speaking," Kathleen replied already preparing to her 'We're not interested' response.  
  
"Kathleen, this is Sam Carter, Jack's fiancée," came the unexpected introduction.  
  
"Sam, what a nice surprise," Kathleen answered recovering from her initial shock. "I just got the pictures Jack sent. Tell him thanks."  
  
"I will. Jack told me about your kind invitation. I think it's a great idea for us to come for the weekend. Are you sure we won't be imposing if we stay with you though? We could always get a hotel room," Sam offered.   
  
"Don't be silly. We would love for you two to stay here. It would give me a chance to really visit with Jack, and get to know you," Kathleen insisted.  
  
"I'd like that. So unless there is a crisis that prevents us from coming, we'll see you in a week and a half," Sam confirmed.  
  
"Sam, I should probably warn you," Kathleen paused trying to put this nicely.  
  
"It's ok. Jack told me I wasn't going to be welcomed with open arms," Sam said quietly.   
  
Kathleen's heart went out to the woman. She was pretty brave coming to face them all knowing she was walking into a possibly nasty confrontation. Kathleen tried to ease her mind.   
  
"Mom and Dad can be stubborn fools, and Eileen pretty much goes along with Mom to keep the peace. I talked to Patrick the other day. He was glad to hear that Jack was happy again. And I am thrilled. So you already have the two of us on your side. Colleen is keeping an open mind. I'm sure you can win her over. It'll be fine Sam," Kathleen reassured her.   
  
"Oh, I'm not too worried. It can't be any worse than some of the CO's I've put up with," Sam stated confidently.  
  
"Not Jack, I hope?" Kathleen asked.  
  
"No. We had one bad moment when we first met, but we got along pretty well right from the start," Sam chuckled.  
  
Before they said goodbye Sam gave Kathleen their flight information. They would be flying in late Friday afternoon and leaving very early the following Monday to get back on base for a late morning briefing.  
  
A week later, Sam was checking through her overnight kit making sure that everything was there. She went into the bathroom to gather a few toiletries to add to the bag and nervously checked her watch. Then taking a deep breath she picked up the test she had left on the sink. Positive. It was positive. She sat down on the side of the tub in shock.  
  
She had first noticed the symptoms a week ago. She had felt really lethargic for several days, and just couldn't seem to get enough sleep. Then her morning coffee hadn't set right. After a couple of days she had changed over to tea first thing in the morning and she'd felt much better. At first she had thought it was nerves. Despite her brave words to Kathleen, she was extremely nervous about meeting her future in-laws. Then another thought had struck her. She was sure for days that it was just wishful thinking. Every doctor since Jolinar had said that her odds of getting pregnant were slim. But the dates had all tracked right, and although it wasn't that unusual for her to be late, the nagging hope would not go away. So she had bought a test, and waited until she was home alone while Jack went out to pick up dinner.   
  
Now she was sitting in the bathroom trying not to jump up and down with joy. She needed to be cautious. These tests were not 100% accurate, and with her altered body chemistry it could be a false positive. She didn't want to get Jack's hopes up until she was sure. So she tucked the wand back in the box, and carefully hid the entire thing away until she could dispose of it later. Then the next morning she headed straight for the infirmary.   
  
"Janet, I need a favor," she began.  
  
Janet rushed the test through as quietly as she could. She knew that Sam was getting her hopes up, and she certainly didn't want rumors to start if it turned out to be a false alarm. And it most likely was. Janet had been helping Sam deal with all of her body's little quirks for five years, and knew that the extra protein marker could easily have thrown the less sophisticated home test off. So she had two separate tests run against Sam's blood sample. Now she was staring at the results in happy disbelief.   
  
"Sam, you're about five weeks pregnant," she confirmed to her now beaming friend.  
  
The two women were both speechless for a minute, and then they both started talking at once.  
  
"I need to find Jack," Sam said.  
  
"You'll need to see Dr. Peterson," Janet stated, referring to the OBGYN that had security clearance to deal with any female problems resulting from off-world injuries or alien diseases.   
  
"Make me an appointment for early next week when we get back," Sam said nodding.   
  
Finally Janet couldn't stand it any longer, and she slipped out of Doctor mode and gathered her friend into a hug.  
  
"Congratulations Sam. I'm so happy for you," she choked out. Then she wiped a tear from her eyes, chuckled and added, "Go find that fiancée of yours. I know one Air Force Colonel who is in for the shock of his life."   
  
Sam made a quick stop be her lab to be sure that everything was shut down and to pick up her laptop. Then she headed down to Jack's office. He needed no encouragement to head for home, just stopping at Hammond's office to let the General know that they were headed out and to remind him that they would be available by cell phone only over the long weekend.  
  
At home they ordered pizza and began to pack their bags for the trip. When the pizza arrived they took a break.   
  
"You want a beer, Sam?" Jack asked.  
  
"No, I'll stick with diet soda," Sam replied. Then as she served up the pizza onto plates she asked him, "Jack, what objections exactly do your parents have to us getting married?"  
  
"Well, you're not Catholic to start with, plus since Sara and I were married in the Catholic Church, and the marriage was never annulled by the church, they don't really recognize our divorce. Then there is the fact that you are in the military, which in their minds means that you will not be staying home to take care of me and have babies like they think you should. I didn't even bring up the fact that you might not be able to have kids. That would put them over the edge," he explained.   
  
"Jack, do you want kids?" Sam asked, already knowing the answer, but wanting to confirm it before she dropped her little bomb.   
  
"Sam, we discussed this. Sure, I would love to have a baby with you. But the key part is 'with you'. If it doesn't happen then as long as I have you in my life, I'll be happy," Jack reassured her.  
  
"How would your parents react to us having a baby," she inquired.  
  
"I'm sure another grandchild would thrill them," he said with a shrug. "Why?"  
  
"Even if it was conceived before the actual marriage ceremony?" she asked, unable to stop the smile that was now threatening.   
  
"Sam?" Jack questioned, barely able to believe what she was hinting at.  
  
"I'm pregnant," she confirmed with a huge grin.   
  
With a load whoop he swept her up into his arms and twirled her around, causing her to grab onto him as a wave of dizziness washed over her.   
  
"Hey, don't spin the pregnant lady," she warned.  
  
"Sorry! Here, sit," he apologized leading her to a kitchen chair and pulling up a chair close to her. "Sam this is so amazing," he said giving her a long kiss. When they came up for air he asked, "When did you find out?"  
  
"Today. I'm only five weeks along, so it's too early to be announcing it to anyone, but if all goes well we are going to be parents around the first of February," Sam said her eyes growing large as the enormity of it all started to sink in. "I still need to see the OBGYN and get everything checked out though," she added as a warning.  
  
"How are you feeling?" Jack asked concerned.   
  
"Pretty good so far," Sam reassured him. "I've been a little tired, and I've had a couple of bouts of nausea, but it's been pretty mild. So far so good," she said with a grin.  
  
Jack's smile started to grow too. He reached for their plates and handed Sam her pizza.  
  
"Here, eat. You need to keep your strength up. We're going to have a baby Sam. A healthy baby with your brains and good looks," he predicted.  
  
"She'll have your eyes," she corrected nibbling on her pizza.  
  
Jack's own slice paused on its way to his mouth. "She?"  
  
"Just a hunch," Sam shrugged slightly embarrassed at her admission.   
  
Jack was amused. "Mother's intuition?" he teased. "Not very scientific."  
  
"This from a man who won't go on a mission without his lucky hat?" Sam retorted.  
  
She had him there. Besides, he liked the fact that Sam was being kind of maternal already. He finished off his food with a grin, and cleared away the mess. Then he reached down and lifted Sam off of her chair carrying her towards the bedroom.   
  
"Jack, we need to finish packing!" she protested.  
  
"Later. First, we need to celebrate," he stated firmly as he set her on her feet and began to undress her.  
  
As his hands touched her bare skin, any desire to be practical flew out the window and she began to remove his shirt. Soon there were no pesky clothes separating them, and with a passionate kiss, Jack lifted her and laid her on the bed, hovering over her as he began to trail kisses down her body. When he reached her flat stomach he placed a lingering kiss there. Sam was moved to tears. She said a quick prayer to any real God out there to protect their baby. Then she was rendered incapable of any further conscious thought as Jack's lips and hands continued their journey.   
  
Kathleen quickly checked the arrival board. Just great. They had gotten stuck in rush hour traffic, so of course Sam and Jack's flight had been on time. She took note of the baggage carousel number and headed in that direction with her daughters in tow. Scanning the crowd, it was actually Sam that she spotted first, recognizing her from the pictures Jack had sent. She was standing a bit off from the side of the crowd around the carousel, with a carry-on slung over one shoulder and a garment bag at her feet. Kathleen noticed a couple of men eyeing her appreciatively. She could understand why. In black slacks and a red shirt peeking out from under a black leather jacket, her future sister-in-law was stunning.  
  
"Sam, hi!" she greeted as she drew near.  
  
"Kathleen?" Sam answered with a nervous smile.  
  
"Yes," Kathleen said reaching out to shake her hand. "Where's Jack?"  
  
"Rescue mission to snag our other bag," Sam informed her with a grin, nodding towards the carousel.  
  
Just then Jack emerged from the crowd with the missing bad in hand. He spotted Kathleen and the girls with Sam and waved. Dropping the bag at Sam's feet he swept his sister into a hug.  
  
"Bonnie, you look great!" he said.  
  
"You do too, Jack," Kathleen admitted.  
  
Her first thought on seeing him had been to wonder when he had gone so gray. Then he had smiled and she had caught her breath at how fantastic he looked. Tan, relaxed and really hunky in his own leather jacket. She hadn't seen him looking so good since, well since Charlie. She shook off the dark thought to make introductions. Her daughters hadn't seen their Uncle in years, and as a result were both a bit shy around him. But her youngest daughter Anna took an instant liking to Sam, which shocked Kathleen. Anna was the quieter of the two girls, preferring books to people. Kathleen was always trying to find her an outlet where she could make friends. The recent dance classes had been a total flop. Now however she was taking Sam by the hand to lead her outside. Kathleen was relieved to see Sam give Anna a brilliant smile and let herself be guided by the 10-year-old.  
  
Soon they were outside watching for Michael who had circled the airport after dropping Kathleen and the girls off. They all piled into the Minivan when he pulled up, and headed to the O'Brien's house. Jack was up front with Mike happily debating the Cub's chances of not ending up in last place this year, while the two girls were in the back with their headphones already plugged into their CD players. That left Kathleen to chat with Sam.   
  
"First things first. Let me see the ring," Kathleen insisted.  
  
Sam held out her had and Kathleen gave a low whistle. "I didn't think Jack's taste was that good. Or did you pick it out yourself?" she inquired.  
  
"No, he did. He surprised me with it one night. He did the whole romantic dinner, down on one knee thing," Sam confessed.  
  
"Jack did?" Kathleen exclaimed.  
  
"What," Jack questioned from the front seat.  
  
"You are getting soft, brother dear," Kathleen teased.  
  
"And if that information gets around I will know who to come back and torture Bonnie," he threatened.  
  
Kathleen just waved him back to his own conversation and turned back to Sam after making sure her daughters were well occupied and not listening in.  
  
"So are you two living together?" she asked quietly.  
  
Sam nodded. "For over a month now," she admitted.  
  
"Well don't let Mom and Dad know that. They are really old fashioned. You wouldn't believe how much sneaking around I had to do when Michael and I were dating," she admitted rolling her eyes. "What about your family? Have they met Jack?"  
  
"My brother and his family haven't, but my Dad has known him several years. They get along fine," Sam said.  
  
"That's good. So tell me about the wedding plans," Kathleen urged.   
  
They chatted comfortably until they pulled into the drive of the O'Brien's two-story colonial in a pretty subdivision north of the city. They all clambered out of the van and Jack and Michael unloaded their bags and carried them up to the spare room. Sam followed Kathleen through to a large eat-in kitchen. She instantly felt at home in the house that was filled with family photos adorning the walls and evidence of the kids everywhere, including their work displayed on the refrigerator.   
  
"Can I help with dinner," Sam offered. "Although I have to tell you that I can turn just about any kitchen into a disaster area in five minutes flat," Sam warned with a grimace.  
  
"Not much of a cook?" Kathleen chuckled.  
  
"If I can manage to focus I'm great. But usually I end up doodling some idea I'm working on and burning whatever I have on the stove," Sam confessed.  
  
"Yeah, Jack said that you were a scientist. What exactly does a Theoretical Astrophysicist do anyway?" Kathleen asked.  
  
"It's somebody who studies the planets and the stars, Mom," Anna chimed in having followed them in unnoticed.  
  
"That's right. And other space phenomenon like supernovas, blackholes and wormholes," Sam explained. "So Anna, are you interested in physics?"  
  
Just then Jack and Michael walked into the kitchen. "Oh no. Not another scientist," Jack complained.  
  
"Don't listen to him, Anna. We scientists have pulled his cute butt out if trouble more than once," Sam said with a grin.  
  
"True," Jack admitted. "Hey, you think I have a cute butt?"   
  
Anna giggled at that, and Kathleen laughed and handed the burgers to Michael. "You two go do the male thing. Make fire. Burn meat," she said shooing them out the back door.  
  
Sam, Anna and Maggie were given the job of setting the table. Kathleen watched as Sam drew out each of the girls about their interests, talking easily to Maggie about sports, and to Anna about science and computers. By the time they sat down to eat Sam had relaxed in their presence and was starting to feel like one of the family. She quizzed them all on the rest of the O'Neill clan trying to correctly match up all of the spouses and kids before coming face to face with them the next day. After the dishes were done, the girls dragged Sam off to their rooms to show her all of their favorite treasures and Kathleen was able to talk to Jack privately.  
  
"She's great Jack. I give a big thumbs up," Kathleen stated.  
  
"Thanks Kath. Your opinion means more to me than Mom and Dad's approval," Jack admitted giving her a hug.  
  
"Good, because I doubt that you are going to get that," Kathleen quipped.  
  
Kathleen and Michael finally shooed the girls to bed at 10:00 and followed quickly behind them. Despite the time difference it had been a long day of traveling and Sam was glad to opt for an early night. Conscious of Maggie on the other side of the wall, they quietly spooned together in bed and it wasn't long before Jack felt Sam's breathing change indicating she was asleep. He lay with her in his arms waiting for sleep himself, savoring the time to just enjoy holding her. As he drifted off, his left hand automatically found it's way to her stomach, instinctively protecting the two most important things in his life. He dreamt of them up at the cabin with a blond toddler riding on his shoulders as they hiked the lakeshore.   
  
The next morning, both Sam and Jack were awake at 6:00am. Sam was feeling slightly nauseous, so Jack slipped downstairs and made her some tea and a slice of toast. Once she had finished them she felt much better and she suggested that they take a quick jog. She had been working very hard to get back in shape and she didn't want to totally lose it now. So they slipped into some comfortable shorts and t-shirts and went out for a light jog around the peaceful neighborhood. By 7:00 they were in the shower, Since nobody else was up yet they decided to risk showering together. By the time they were dressed and back in the kitchen they had worked up quite an appetite.   
  
Jack set about making pancakes while Sam put on the coffee. Darn she really missed the stuff again. She hoped that the morning sickness would let up so she could at least have decaf soon. By the time Kathleen and Michael were up and moving breakfast was ready.  
  
"Wow, I should hire you two. This is a treat to have breakfast served to me," Kathleen enthused.  
  
"You couldn't afford us. Besides we've been up for hours," Jack chastised.  
  
"Yeah, I heard the shower running," Kathleen said. "Funny how I only heard it go on once though," she teased.  
  
Jack just wagged his eyebrows at her but Sam actually blushed so Kathleen took pity on her and changed the subject.  
  
"We should be on the road in two hours. Do you two need anything?" she asked.  
  
"If we could borrow an iron and an ironing board that would be great," Sam replied.  
  
An hour and a half later they were all finishing up getting dressed. Sam was just about to slip on the small gold earrings that she normally wore with her dress blues when Jack stopped her.  
  
"I thought you might like to wear these," he said handing her a small jewelry box.  
  
Sam opened the box to find a pair of sapphire studs. "Jack they're beautiful," she exclaimed.  
  
"I know you can't wear anything flashy with your uniform, but I thought these might do," he said with a small smile.  
  
"They're perfect," she said, slipping then on. "Thank you," she whispered pulling him in for a kiss.  
  
Soon they were both ready to go, uniforms precise, medals perfectly aligned. They headed down to wait for the others. Michael and Anna were all ready and the young girl stared in awe at her Uncle and Aunt.  
  
"Wow," she said. "You guys have a lot of medals."  
  
Just then Kathleen and Maggie came down the stairs and Kathleen stopped in her tracks. She hadn't realized that the two were going to wear their uniforms, but thought that they certainly looked ready to face the rest of the family. Kind of like they were prepared to go into battle.   
  
"I swear Jack. You're more handsome in that uniform every time I see you in it," she said shaking her head. "And Sam, you look beautiful. You two are going to impress the heck out of everyone there."  
  
And they did. With sentiment still running high in support of U.S. troops in the Middle East, the two highly decorated officers caused heads to turn everywhere they went. Sean's friends and their families all stopped the group after the ceremony and insisted on being introduced. Even Jack's parents, who had never really approved of his decision to join up, couldn't help but be proud. At the restaurant the group was shown to a private room that Patrick had reserved. Alone with whole O'Neill family, Jack was finally able to make more formal introductions than had been possible at the graduation ceremony. And the interrogation began.  
  
Privately, Sam thought that all of the inquisitions she had endured at the hands of the System Lords had merely been preparation for this. Thanks goodness that Kathleen, Patrick and the various spouses were all silent spectators. It was bad enough with the Charles, Maureen, and the twins Eileen and Colleen firing questions in rapid succession. Sam was thankful every time the wait staff interrupted to take drink or food orders. Finally Kathleen got up to accompany Anna to the lady's room and Sam gratefully tagged along.  
  
"How are you holding up?" Kathleen asked in the privacy of the lounge.  
  
"Ok so far," Sam replied. "How do you think it is going?"  
  
"You're doing fine. You look calm and confident. They're starting to run out of steam. I think they expected to have you sweating long before this," Kathleen chuckled.   
  
Sam was running a comb through her hair and touching up her makeup when Kathleen and Anna headed back. She was only going to be a couple of seconds behind them, but it was a couple of seconds too long. While they had all been occupied Maureen O'Neill had slipped into a stall unnoticed, and now she stepped out to confront Sam.  
  
"Samantha, how lovely. Now we can have a private chat," she said with a smile that was obviously forced.  
  
Ambushed, thought Sam with a sigh.  
  
Sam turned to face her future mother-in-law calmly. In a way she was looking forward to seeing what the woman would try. So she smiled a brilliant Sam Carter smile, and met the enemy head on.  
  
"Mrs. O'Neill, how nice. We really haven't gotten to talk have we?" she stated calmly.  
  
"No, and I was really hoping we could. Woman to woman my dear. I feel that there are things that you should know about Jonathan before you leap into marriage. I can't help but feel that you don't really know what you are getting into. My son has had a lot of pain in his life, and he has a lot of regrets. I just don't want you to get hurt when he realizes that he needs to go back and deal with his past. When you realize that he still loves Sara, and always will," she warned.  
  
Wow, she's good, Sam thought. Thank goodness Sara was one of the things Sam had insisted they talk about that week up at the cabin. Despite how right it had felt to be with Jack once the regulations were no longer in the way, she'd still had issues that she felt she needed to deal with if they were going to make the relationship work. One had been the very real possibility that they would never have any children. Another had been the whole Edora debacle. The last had been a need to know just where his relationship with his ex-wife stood.   
  
Luckily Jack had understood. He had admitted that he and Sara had tried to reconcile after the whole crystal entity thing, but after several months had realized that there was no going back. Sara could no longer stand him disappearing for long periods of time. Their mission to Argos had put a major strain on any attempt to get back together. For his part, Jack had realized that whereas before Sara had always been his rock, his piece of normal that helped him get through tough missions, he now found that he didn't want a relationship based on lies. The little unexpected trip to Antarctica had been the last straw. During his long recuperation he had started to realize that he was daydreaming about holding his 2IC in his arms, not Sara, and that while he would always love Sara, it just wasn't enough. They had signed the divorce papers a month later.   
  
So now Sam could look Maureen O'Neill in the eyes and stated with total self-confidence, "Jack has moved on Mrs. O'Neill. And so has Sara from what I've heard. I think you can stop worrying about him having regrets. The only thing he will never get over is Charlie."  
  
She saw the older woman blink in surprise. This must have been a tactic she had really thought would work. But Sam had to give her credit. She bounced right back.   
  
"Yes, and that's another thing, dear. Have you and Jack discussed having a family? You're not getting any younger you know," Maureen inquired.  
  
"We both want to start a family right away," Sam confessed with a small smile, again thanking her lucky stars that she had gotten the good news before they left. Otherwise she might not have been able to face down her mother-in-law so confidently.   
  
Whatever Maureen O'Neill was going to say next was interrupted by the arrival of Colleen telling them that the food was being served. She pulled Sam aside on the way back to the table.  
  
"I hope Mom didn't upset you Sam. We didn't mean to leave you alone with her like that," she apologized.   
  
"She didn't upset me. But I have a feeling I might need backup this week-end yet," Sam admitted.  
  
"Well, I just wanted to let you know that I'm officially on your side. It's nice to see Jack looking happy again," Colleen admitted.  
  
"Thanks, Colleen. That's a big relief. I certainly don't want to cause a rift between Jack and his family," Sam confessed.  
  
"You haven't. If anything you've help mend some fences. If Mom and Dad don't come around, it's not your fault," Colleen stated firmly.  
  
They arrived back at the table and Sam reassured a concerned Jack with a smile that told him everything was ok. Then she dived gratefully into her meal, suddenly realizing that she was starved. Maybe there really was something to that eating for two cliché. Later over coffee they all mingled. The kids commandeered one end of the table and were chatting and making plans for the next day. Jack was discussing the Stanley Cup finals with Patrick, Michael and Colleen's husband Joe, while trying to keep an eye on Sam to make sure she was ok. He relaxed as he saw her happily chatting with Kathleen, Colleen and Patrick's wife Erin. They had been admiring her ring, and now it looked like she was trying to explain her various medals to them. Over in the corner he saw his parents and Eileen whispering and glancing in Sam's direction. Deciding they were probably up to no good, he wandered over to talk to them.   
  
"Mom, Dad, Eileen. We haven't had a chance to talk," he said, following their eyes over to where Sam was laughing at something Colleen had said. "I'm glad she's getting along with them," he added.  
  
"Yes, well dear, she seems nice enough, but she's not really your type is she? I mean she's career military. Not exactly good wife material," his mother commented.  
  
"She's right you know, Son. Eileen, why don't you and your mother go over and see what the kids are up to and let me talk to Jack for awhile," his dad said.  
  
"So, Dad. Let's not beat around the bush. You just list out all of the reasons that you think Sam's no good for me. Then I'll tell you why she is," Jack said with a wry grin.  
  
"Jack, seriously. What could you possibly see in a woman like that? I'll admit she's a real looker, but you need a lot more than that in a wife. Sam isn't the type that's going to be happy staying at home and raising a family," Charles warned.  
  
"No, she's not. And I don't want her to. I want her out re-inventing physics, doing what she loves. Heck, I'll probably retire and stay home with the kids. She'll be a fantastic mom though. She has a real way with children. They feel safe with her. Anna and Maggie adore her already," Jack grinned, thinking of how he'd said something similar to her when they first went through the gate.  
  
Charles sighed. What would it take to get through to his son? His contemplation was interrupted by the arrival of the four females fresh from their gossip-fest, all now laughing.  
  
"I'm being ganged up on," Sam explained chuckling.  
  
"Sam refuses to tell us where you two are going on your honeymoon," Kathleen complained.  
  
"It's classified," Jack replied automatically. After all, they were spending the week up at the cabin, just a short two-hour drive from his parent's house. That's all they would need would be to have uninvited guests. It would put a serious crimp in his skinny-dipping plans.   
  
"That's what Sam said," Erin exclaimed in frustration.  
  
Jack and Sam's eyes collided. They had talked about going someplace nice. A resort, or a condo in Hawaii. In the end they had both admitted that what they really wanted was to get away from everyone. Just the two of them. The cabin was perfect. Their last trip had been nice, but Sam had still been recuperating, and the weather had still been pretty chilly, so she had spent a lot of her time sleeping while Jack fished or bundled up as they took walks. This time she had suggested she was only planning on bringing the clothes on her back, and the little black bikini that she hadn't gotten to model last trip, which had sent Jack's imagination into overdrive.  
  
"Whoa, sorry we brought up the honeymoon topic. Would you two like to get a room?" Colleen teased, seeing the steamy looks they were giving each other.   
  
"Colleen!" Charles chastised.  
  
"Sorry, Dad. I didn't mean to suggest that two grown adults, one of whom has been married before, might not wait until their wedding night to have sex," Colleen apologized, rolling her eyes.  
  
Sam had to stifle her laughter. Colleen had looked and sounded exactly like Jack O'Neill at his sarcastic best. It was either a family trait or she had picked up the nuances from her big brother. Either way Sam suddenly felt a lot closer to Colleen.  
  
A cell phone ringing eliminated any need for a response to Colleen's comment.   
  
"Saved by the bell," Jack quipped as both he and Sam instinctively reached for their phones.  
  
"It's mine," Sam sighed as she pulled out her phone and opened it up. "Carter."  
  
After a couple of seconds of listening she looked around the room and headed for Michael.  
  
"Hold on a second, Sir. I'm going to move to a more private location to take this," she responded to the person on the other end. To Michael she said, "I'd like to take this someplace quiet. Can I borrow your keys so I can go sit in the van?"  
  
"Do you need me?" Jack asked as he and the others trailed up behind her.  
  
She shook her head as Michael dug out the keys. "Broken DHD," she said cryptically. "They just need me to walk them through fixing it."  
  
As soon as she had left the room Charles turned to Jack. "Do you see what I mean? Her work is more important than family," he admonished.  
  
Jack was trying to decide whether he should even waste his breath trying to argue with his dad when an extremely irate Maureen O'Neill stormed up.  
  
"Maggie just let slip that you and Samantha are *both* sleeping in the spare room. Jonathan O'Neill, I know I raised you better than that. And Kathleen, what kind of example are you setting for your daughters!" she fumed in a stage whisper designed to protect the rest of her grandchildren from such sinfulness.   
  
Jack shut his eyes and prayed that this was just a bad dream. From behind him he heard Colleen quietly comment.  
  
"Busted!"   
  
"Get a grip, Mom," Jack said in exasperation. "We just slept in the same bed. It's not like we had wild monkey sex with Maggie on the other side of the wall. You know, Sam was my 2IC for six years. We slept in tents and a few other really tight quarters together often during that time and nothing ever happened. I think we can restrain ourselves for three nights in Kathleen's spare room."  
  
"It's still not proper," Maureen huffed.  
  
"You are entitled to your opinion. But I will not let you upset Sam with this. Is that clear?" he asked.  
  
"We have to let her know we don't approve, Son," Charles objected.  
  
"No you don't. I don't want either of you to discuss this again. This weekend had been stressful enough for Sam without you attacking her morals," Jack stated firmly. "If you do, I can promise that not only will you not be invited to our wedding, you will not ever hear from us again," he threatened.   
  
At that point Kathleen stepped in. "Jack we need to be leaving soon anyway. Why don't you go out to the van and wait with Sam? Michael, the girls and I will be out in a few minutes. That way everyone can cool off before we see each other tomorrow," she suggested.   
  
Jack nodded curtly, and went over to say goodbye to Patrick and the newly graduated Sean. Then he headed out.  
  
Inside his parents were stunned by his ultimatum. Even Colleen was a bit confused by the outburst.  
  
"What was all of that about," she asked pulling Kathleen aside with a raised eyebrow.  
  
"All I know is that he originally was concerned about bringing Sam here this weekend. He said she was supposed to be avoiding stress. I don't know the specifics, but I do know that about four months ago she was very sick. I got the impression that she almost died," Kathleen told her.   
  
"Crap," Colleen said under her breath. "Ok, well if we have to, we will just make sure that Mom and Dad are not left alone with Sam for the rest of the weekend. Eileen too, just to be safe. We'll make sure that they don't upset her," she vowed.  
  
Kathleen smiled at her sister. Colleen was the best person to have around in a crisis. She would do anything to protest those she was close to and she always came up with good plans. She was a lot like Jack in that way.  
  
"Great idea. Now I'm going to round up my crew. See you tomorrow at around 1:00," Kathleen said giving her sister a big hug.  
  
Sam was just wrapping up her phone call having successfully gotten SG-6 back through the gate when the O'Brien's converged on the van. Jack assured her that he had said goodbye for her, and if she noticed any tension she was smart enough to let it slide while the girls were in hearing range. Arriving back at the house, they all set off to change, but she was unable to catch Jack alone. Then she and the girls were put to work in the kitchen helping Kathleen do some last minute preparation for the next day's barbecue. Therefore it was several hours before the girls went to bed and Sam could corner Jack in the family room.  
  
"So are you going to tell me what the quick departure was all about?" she asked.  
  
"What do you mean?" Jack replied trying to duck out of an explanation.  
  
"Jack…" she warned.  
  
"That's what you get for picking such a smart girlfriend, brother dear. I bet not much gets by her," Kathleen teased entering the room.  
  
Jack sighed and reluctantly explained. "Mom found out we were sharing the spare room and threw a fit. I didn't want you to have to walk back into that," he admitted.  
  
"Damn," Sam swore. "Well now you can officially add 'loose woman' to the list of my many bad qualities," she quipped grinning.  
  
"You don't seem upset," Jack commented in surprise.  
  
"It's not as if they wouldn't eventually figure out that we slept together before the wedding now is it?" she pointed out. "I was just hoping they might get to like me enough first to forgive me for my immoral behavior."   
  
"Our immoral behavior," Jack corrected.  
  
"Hey, it's not that bad," Kathleen said. "They only think you shared a bed. They don't need to know about anything else. I'm certainly not going to blab."   
  
Jack looked at Sam to see if she wanted to let Kathleen in on their secret. Sam nodded, feeling like she could trust her future sister-in-law to be happy for them, and keep quiet for now.  
  
"Well, we are assuming that Mom and Dad have not lost their ability to count," Jack broadly hinted.  
  
Kathleen looked at the two in confusion. Then she noticed something she should have before. Sam was positively glowing. And Jack had been sporting a big ass grin on and off all weekend.  
  
"Oh, my god," she exclaimed as she blindly sank into the armchair behind her.  
  
"What?" questioned Michael, who had just walked in.  
  
"Sam's pregnant!"   
  
Michael let the news sink in. Well this was certainly an interesting development. He could just see the looks on his in-law's faces when they learned about this. Jack and Sam didn't seem upset though.  
  
"This is good news, right?" he asked hesitantly.  
  
"Yeah. Great news. Fantastic news," Jack confirmed with a huge smile.  
  
Kathleen couldn't help but smile back. This might cause some major upset later, but she was so happy for her brother.   
  
"Congratulations you two! This is so exciting," she said getting up and giving Jack a hug, and then turning to give Sam one also. "How far along are you?" she asked.  
  
"Only five weeks. We just found out two days ago, and I haven't even been for an exam, so this is definitely not to be announced to everyone yet," Sam warned.  
  
"I'm certainly not going to be the one to spill," Kathleen admitted with a grimace.  
  
"No, but I so want to be there when you tell Charles and Maureen," Michael said chuckling as Kathleen gave him a playful swat.  
  
"Well we will probably wait until everyone is in for the wedding, although if everything checks out ok next week we might tell a few close friends," Sam explained. "We'll have to play it by ear with our parents."  
  
Kathleen nodded, knowing it was wise to keep things quiet during those first months when anything could easily go wrong. She remembered how worried she had been during that time period with both of the girls.  
  
"Well, don't fret too much about it. We won't let Mom, Dad or Eileen come down on you. The rest of us will all be so thrilled to have another baby to spoil. We had thought that we were all done with having little kids in the family, so this is a lovely surprise," Kathleen assured them.   
  
Soon Sam admitted to being tired and headed to bed. Michael, figuring correctly that Kathleen would like to talk to her brother alone also retreated upstairs.   
  
"Thanks Bonnie, for reassuring her," Jack said sincerely.  
  
"I meant it Jack. This is great news," she said. Then she paused as he seemed to be lost in thought. "What are you thinking about?" she finally asked.   
  
"I'm wondering what the heck I ever did to deserve this. First Sam actually loving me as much as I do her, and now the chance to be a father again. I can't believe how lucky I am," Jack confessed.  
  
"You deserve it all, Jack. Don't ever doubt that," Kathleen said. "Now, how is Sam doing? I know she was really sick a few months ago. Is she going to be ok?"  
  
"She's doing great so far. She's got the normal tiredness and morning sickness but nothing too bad. I have to admit to being a bit anxious though. She gave us all such a scare when she was sick this last time," Jack admitted.  
  
"What exactly was wrong with her?" Kathleen asked.  
  
"It all stems from an old injury. I can't tell you a lot, but it's a stomach problem that basically causes her to not be able to eat. Usually it only lasts a few days, and then she eases back into solid foods slowly. She was injured really badly about 4 months ago, and while she was recuperating the stomach problem flared up. But this time she couldn't keep any food down for six weeks. Finally a specialist was able to help her. But she'll never be cured," Jack explained.  
  
"So this could happen while she's pregnant?" Kathleen inquired slightly shocked.  
  
"Yeah, although it's usually triggered by a severe trauma or stress. So with any luck she should have a normal pregnancy," Jack said hopefully.  
  
"We'll be praying for you all, Jack," Kathleen said putting her hand on his arm. Then she shook a finger at him and warned, "And you had better keep me informed. I'll be worrying."  
  
"Yes, ma'am. Now if we are going to face the folks tomorrow and atone for our immoral ways we had better get some sleep," Jack recommended.  
  
"We're going to 8:00 mass in the morning if you want to join us," Kathleen offered.  
  
"No, I think I'll let Sam sleep and we'll have breakfast ready for you when you get home," Jack replied as they headed off to bed.  
  
The next morning Jack was up before the O'Brien's left for church. He saw them off and then started pottering around in the kitchen making sure he had everything he needed to make a bacon and egg breakfast. As he scrounged around for a couple of frying pans he heard Sam padding down the stairs. He looked up as she entered the kitchen looking a little green. He quickly sat her down and grabbed an empty pot in case she was sick.   
  
"Tea?" he asked, handing her some crackers he had seen in the pantry.  
  
She nodded and then sat quietly letting her stomach settle as she munched on the crackers. By the time she had finished the tea Jack had fixed for her she was feeling much better.   
  
"If I could just skip that first half hour after I wake up, I'd be fine," she quipped as she stood up and put her dishes in sink.  
  
"Let's just hope that it doesn't get any worse than this. In the meantime, I certainly don't mind spoiling you by bring you tea and toast in bed every morning," Jack replied wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her in close.  
  
As she snuggled into him she asked, "How long before they all get back?"  
  
"Plenty of time," Jack said as he claimed her lips in a gently kiss.  
  
On the plus side, the same raging hormones that were causing Sam to be unsettled first thing in the morning were also causing her to be extremely libidinous. Add that to the fact that she and Jack were still in the 'can't keep their hands off each other' phase of their relationship, and she had become downright wanton. She quickly deepened the kiss and had Jack groaning with the movement of her hips against him. His hands quickly found the hem of her tank top and were just sliding up the smooth skin when the phone rang. He paused for a moment before he realized that it wasn't their house and he should just let the machine pick up. But as he started to resume his previous actions he heard his Mom's voice on the machine.  
  
"Kathleen, its Mom. Please have Jack call me when you get back. I want to apologize for the way we left things last night," she began.  
  
Jack sighed and was about to reach for the kitchen phone just off to his right when Sam grabbed his arm.  
  
"Don't even think about it," she said as her other hand ran down over his chest and stomach until she could cup him through his sweatpants.  
  
"I gather you have something in mind," Jack teased with a grin.  
  
"You betcha. And it involves you begging for mercy," she informed him with a seductive smile and a slight tightening of her hand.   
  
"Bring it on, Major," he taunted.  
  
Sam stepped away from him with a grin. In one swift motion she pulled her tank off over her head and then turned towards the stairs.  
  
"Coming, Sir?" she asked over her shoulder as she climbed towards their room.  
  
"I certainly am," he mumbled as he took the stairs two at a time to get to the sweet torture awaiting him.  
  
By the time Kathleen and her family arrived home and went to change into more casual clothes, Jack was back in the kitchen and was on the phone with his mother. To his surprise she had apologized for her comments the previous evening. He accepted the apology for Sam's sake, hoping that maybe now his parents would take the time to get to know her better this afternoon. As he hung up Sam, fresh from the shower, walked in and wrapped her arms around him.  
  
"Who were you talking to?" she asked  
  
"Mom. She apologized for flying off the handle. I think my threatening to not invite them to the wedding scared her a bit," he acknowledged.  
  
"Jack O'Neill, your parents *will* be invited to our wedding, no matter what they say or do," Sam scolded. "I'll make sure they understand that today," she added.  
  
"I know! And that will go a long way towards making them like you," he agreed giving her a kiss.  
  
"Hey! Break it up you two. You have hungry people here who need to eat!" Kathleen warned as she entered the kitchen.  
  
Soon they were all laughing around the kitchen table. Kathleen couldn't help but notice the way her brother couldn't keep his eyes or hands off of his fiancée while they ate. As the two women cleared the dishes she had to tease Sam.  
  
"What did you two get up to while we were gone. I swear the looks he's giving you couldn't be any steamier," Kathleen commented with a grin.  
  
Sam blushed slightly and then returned the grin. "Let's just say that I made sure there would only be one thing on his mind for the rest of the day," she chuckled.  
  
"Samantha Carter, you are so bad. You two had both better cool off before the rest of the family gets here. As it is you've got Michael and I feeling lascivious just being around you," Kathleen warned.  
  
"So? Jack and I will keep the girls busy. Give us a list of what needs to be done and go surprise your husband. Life's too short Kathleen, believe me," Sam said suddenly serious.  
  
Kathleen was about to protest when she thought about Sam's words. She was right. She couldn't remember the last time she had jumped her husband in the middle of the day. She turned to Sam with a wicked gleam in her eye.  
  
"Actually, we could use some last minute things from the store. A couple of bags of ice, and few other items. I could make a list and you all could take the van," she suggested hopefully.  
  
"Sounds good. We'll be gone for at least 45 minutes," Sam confirmed with a smirk.  
  
After getting the keys and the list, Sam gathered up Jack, Maggie and Anna, and they set out for the store with a slightly confused Jack at the wheel. He grew even more suspicious when Sam seemed to be dragging out the quick trip by browsing in aisles that they had no need to go down. Finally he impatiently asked if they had everything. Sam carefully checked the list. Then she glanced at her watch. Forty minutes had passed, and it would take at least ten to get back. She herded the girls towards the check-out.  
  
When they arrived back both Kathleen and Michael were in the kitchen preparing food. Michael was whistling off key, and Kathleen looked over at him with an indulgent smile. Jack's eyes narrowed as he looked from one to the other. Then Kathleen looked up and stopped what she was doing to give Sam a hug.  
  
"Thanks," she whispered.  
  
"Anytime," Sam quietly responded.  
  
"Sam?" Jack inquired with a warning note in his voice. "Have you been being a bad influence on my sister?"  
  
Michael actually snorted. "Depends on your point of view. Some would say she's been a very good influence," he answered winking at Sam.   
  
Jack wrapped his arms around Sam with a twinkle in his eye. "What am I going to do with you?"  
  
She looked up at him and gave him one of her brilliant smiles. "You're going to love, honor and keep me. For better or for worse, remember?"  
  
The rest of the day had gone extremely well. Perfect weather had allowed them to play softball and it was a close game. Finally the team captained by Sean had won thanks to a last inning double play perfectly executed by Sam and Maggie. The 13-year-old girl who had been playing first base and therefore made the last out was beaming.   
  
"Nice play, Major," Jack whispered in her ear as he slung an arm around her shoulder on the walk back from the park. "You made Maggie's day by throwing her that ball just slow enough to make sure she could catch it. But then making the team look good always was your specialty," he added as he pulled her into a quick hug.   
  
"I didn't realize that you noticed," she blushed.  
  
"Always Sam. You were by far the best 2IC I ever had," he acknowledged.  
  
Everyone was in a relaxed mood by the time dinner was served. Even Charles and Maureen were laughing and happy, surrounded by their children and grandchildren. Sam had made a point of telling them that she was in charge of the wedding invitations, and contrary to anything Jack might have said, they could expect to get theirs in the mail by the end of the week.   
  
The O'Neill's had been relieved and as the day progressed they had gradually relaxed their disapproval of Sam. Anna and Maggie obviously adored her and Kathleen, Colleen and Erin had all put in a good word. By the time Patrick and his family were ready to leave with Jack's parents and Eileen in tow, Maureen had unbent enough to give Sam a hug and assure her that they would be out for the wedding. Sam however had been thinking ahead to telling them about the baby, and so she made another invitation.  
  
"We would love it if you could come out for a weekend before then. Bring photo albums so I can see pictures of Jack growing up, and you can tell me all his most embarrassing moments," she suggested. "Otherwise we won't have time to really talk in the middle of all of the wedding chaos."   
  
Maureen laughed. "And there are so many good stories," she admitted. "We'll call you when we get back home and try to find a date that works. I think it's a good idea."  
  
After they had left, and Colleen and her family had cleared out, Kathleen and Jack both looked at Sam for an explanation.  
  
"Sam, I'm assuming you had a good reason for inviting my parents out so they can find out we are living in sin?" Jack teased.   
  
"Yeah. I was thinking, and don't roll your eyes at me Jack. If we wait until the wedding to tell your parents about the baby they might be upset and I don't want anything but smiling faces at my wedding. This way we can tell them and hopefully they will be over the shock and dismay in time to come to the wedding in the mood to celebrate," she explained.  
  
Jack had to admit that she was right. Other people at the ceremony would know about the baby by then so there wasn't much hope of keeping it from his folks until after the big day. They would need to tell them beforehand, and as much as he would like to just do it over the phone, Sam's way was probably better.   
  
On Monday it was a relatively cheerful Jack and Sam who checked into the base. The weekend had gone better than expected and Sam felt that she had really started to bond with a couple of her future sister-in-laws as well as two of her new nieces. And Jack's parents had been civil at the end. So while Jack went of to his debriefing, Sam went to report in at the infirmary.  
  
Janet of course wanted to know all of the details, so they agreed to meet up for lunch. They spent an hour going over the weekend blow by blow. Janet also let Sam know that Dr. Peterson was going to stop by later in the day to give Sam a full exam. After lunch, Sam retreated to her lab to try to get caught up. She hadn't been there 15 minutes when Jack showed up.   
  
"Hey," he said giving her swift kiss. They might have agreed to keep it professional on base, but he still never could resist pushing the definition of that agreement, especially when there was no one to see except some airman in security.   
  
"Hey yourself. How's your day been?" she asked.  
  
"Ok, Jonas went out with SG4 this morning to look at some ruins and help translate, so we won't be going out anywhere until he gets back," he explained.  
  
"So you can be here for my appointment with Dr. Peterson this afternoon?" she asked hopefully.  
  
"You betcha," he agreed.  
  
"Good," Sam said relieved. She hadn't realized just how nervous she was about a simple exam. But then there was so much riding on getting good news.  
  
When the doctor arrived, Janet called down to Sam's lab, and ten minutes later Jack and Sam walked into the infirmary holding hands and looking anxious.  
  
"So you are determined to make a liar out of me, aren't you Major. Not that I mind being wrong in this case," Susan Peterson said with a grin.   
  
Sam grinned back, the tension broken. "You know me. Always trying to do the impossible," she answered.  
  
An hour later, Sam and Jack left the infirmary with huge grins on their faces. Dr. Peterson had confirmed that Sam was five weeks into what was so far a very normal pregnancy. To be on the safe side, Sam was scheduled for exams every two weeks instead of every four, and they had decided to do an ultrasound just before the wedding when she would be at about 13 weeks. Janet had told them that she would now be required to pass along the results to General Hammond, and they had asked if they could tell him personally. Now they were on their way down to his office to give him the good news.   
  
Hammond was happily shocked by the announcement. After Jolinar, Fraiser had given him a full report on the after effects of Sam's encounter, and he knew that this was something that the Major had thought would probably never happen. Now, the couple in front of him was beaming with joy. And his grin almost matched theirs. First the wedding and now this. He could only hope that things continued to go well for the officers who so deserved some happiness. After hugging Sam and shaking Jack's hand, he promised to keep the news under wraps until the SGC reception when they were planning on announcing it  
  
That night, Sam insisted on calling Kathleen herself with the update that everything was looking good. Her future sister-in-law was relieved, and told Sam that she expected regular reports. They even exchanged e-mail addresses, something Anna had thought to ask for after Sam had left. Sam immediately sent a message off to each of the girl's mailboxes letting them know how much she had enjoyed the weekend. Then a few days later Maureen O'Neill called and had a nice chat with Jack. They decided on a date three weeks before the wedding for Charles and Maureen to come visit. Little did anyone know how much would occur in that next month.   
  
It all started with Daniel appearing to Jack in an elevator. Suddenly the SGC was in the middle of trying to stop Anubis from gaining a powerful weapon. Then Abydos was destroyed, and Daniel was back, and they were embroiled in a joint effort with the Tok'ra and even the other System Lords to stop Anubis from gaining control of a large part of the universe. Through it all, Sam was stuck on base, frantically awaiting word of what was occurring. She gained a whole new respect for General Hammond. The not knowing was so much harder than being out there doing the fighting.   
  
She struggled to maintain calm, but her hormones were in overdrive, and her morning sickness, whether through stress or just the timing of the pregnancy, kicked in with a vengeance. Thank goodness it was still not so bad that it was a health risk, and at least after noon each day she could pretty much eat anything she wanted. The mornings were a crapshoot though, with every day bringing a new food or smell that set her stomach on edge. She had learned to stick to crackers and water, and stay away from the commissary each day until she knew she had it under control. Thankfully the couple of times she had actually been sick on base there had been no one around to witness her mad dash to the toilet.  
  
By the day the O'Neill's were due to arrive things had finally settled down a bit. Jonas had left for Kelowna three days earlier. Sam and Jack had taken the opportunity before he left to tell him along with Teal'c and Daniel the good news about the baby. They had all been so excited for their friends, even Daniel, who although his memory was still a bit fuzzy, instinctively knew that this was great news. They made Jonas promise that he would be back for the wedding before sadly sending him off.  
  
Sam and Jack had also been able to sit down and tell Jacob the news amidst all of the other excitement. He had been surprised that Sam was still banned from gate travel until they told him why. Then he had been so excited about the prospect of another grandchild that he had forgotten to threaten Jack with bodily harm for getting Sam pregnant before he'd put a ring on her finger. Not that he really cared he admitted to his daughter later, but he really would have enjoyed scaring the crap out of Jack.  
  
As it turned out, Sam ended up going to meet the O'Neill's at the airport by herself as Jack was stuck in a conference call with Hammond, Davis and General Jumper. He had also had to miss her doctor's appointment that day. Hammond had generously offered her a car and driver for the day, so that when she got to the airport she wouldn't have to worry about parking. Charles and Maureen were disappointed that Jack wasn't waiting for them at the airport, but were suitably impressed by the young airman respectfully taking orders from their future daughter-in-law. When they got in the car Charles sat up front so that the women could sit in back and chat.   
  
"So how are the wedding plans going?" Maureen asked politely.  
  
"Well, I have a dress," Sam commented sarcastically. "I'm glad that we decided on a small wedding, as the entire universe seems to be conspiring against me getting anything done. Luckily, Jack and I have the next four days off. Hopefully we can spend Monday and Tuesday getting the last of the details taken care of. At the very least we should be able to finally get our license."   
  
Sam also was grateful that Hammond's new Chief of Staff, Major Connors, had eagerly taken over the planning of the SGC reception. He saw it as an opportunity to get to know some of the areas under his command better and had enlisted help from each area. He had been impressed with how many people had volunteered. Obviously Major Carter was well liked, along with her fiancée. Several members of the SG teams had come to him to offer help in organizing the arrival of the "Special Guests".   
  
Sam was relieved when they arrived at the house and she could show Maureen and Charles to the guest room. She was about to try calling the base to see if Jack had left yet, when he walked in the door. She enthusiastically threw herself into his arms.   
  
"I'm glad to see you too," he chuckled coming up for air. "Did Mom and Dad get in ok?"   
  
"Yeah. They are upstairs getting settled in," she answered. "I was just running through my options for entertaining them until you got home. They were all about as appealing as being tortured by a System Lord."   
  
"And I thought you just missed me," he teased.  
  
"Don't be a smart ass, Jack. I *always* miss you," she said with a twinkle in her eye that told him she would be doing more than greeting him with a kiss if they were alone in the house.  
  
"I'd better get upstairs and say hi to the folks and get changed for dinner," he commented giving her a heated glance that let her know he wished that they were truly alone.  
  
A half hour later they headed out to a little Italian restaurant that was quiet enough that they could sit and get caught up. Maureen and Charles filled them in on the latest from the O'Neill clan, and Jack and Sam told them a little about their friends that they would meet over the weekend. The next day Sam was taking Maureen shopping in Denver with Janet and Cassie. Sam was on a quest to find shoes to go with her wedding dress, and Janet and Cassie had found their dresses in a boutique in Denver and were going to have final fittings. Charles and Jack were going with Daniel and Teal'c to a Rockies game. Then they were all going to meet up for dinner.   
  
"Mrs. O'Neill, remember you promised me some good Jack stories. Janet and Cassie are dying to hear them too. Poor Cass needs ammunition for when Jack terrorizes her prospective boyfriends," Sam laughed.   
  
"Yeah, but Doc doesn't need anything more on me. The woman already scares me with those huge needles every time she gives me a physical," Jack complained.   
  
Back at the house Maureen and Charles were enjoying sharing pictures of young Jack with Sam. They were all having such a nice time that Sam really hated to spoil it. But eventually certain things were bound to come up.  
  
"Jack, your place is really nice," Maureen said as she came back from the washroom. "I can't believe how many books you have though," she commented looking at the overflowing bookcases.  
  
"Most of them are Sam's," Jack explained.   
  
"So you've started moving your things in? That's probably a good idea, so you don't have so much to do after the honeymoon," Charles acknowledged.  
  
"Actually I am totally moved in except for some furniture we haven't decided what to do with," Sam announced.   
  
A moment of silence followed her statement as the O'Neill's tried to decide just what that meant.   
  
"Mom, Dad, Sam and I have been living together for more than two months now," Jack admitted.  
  
Maureen was tightlipped. It was obvious that she wanted to say something, but Charles had put a hand on her arm as if to caution her.   
  
"Well, we can't say that we approve, but what's done is done. And you are at least getting married soon, so we'll leave it at that," he said looking at his wife pointedly. They were obviously making an effort to not alienate their eldest son and his future wife with harsh words. Sam really appreciated their restraint.   
  
"Thank you," she said sincerely. "We knew that you would not approve, but we wanted to be honest with you. That's one of the reasons we asked you to come visit us."  
  
The older couple decided to excuse themselves for bed before they made any further comments, and thus didn't think to question what the other reason was. And Sam and Jack didn't want to push it. Tomorrow would be soon enough to give them the other piece of news.  
  
"Well round one went better than I expected," Jack sighed as he snagged a beer for himself and a bottle of Snapple for Sam. "Come on, it's really nice out, let's go outside and talk."  
  
Soon they were curled up together in a lawn chair on the deck, looking up at the stars.   
  
"So how did your exam go?" Jack asked setting down his beer bottle and wrapping his arms around her.   
  
"Fine. The only thing Dr. Peterson said was that my hormone levels were on the high side of normal. She said that's probably why my morning sickness got worse. And why I've been so darn libidinous," she explained with a chuckle.  
  
"Well, I hate to see you suffering though the nausea, but as for the other, you are definitely not going to get any complaints out of me," he teased earning him a small punch in the arm for being such a guy.  
  
"So how was the meeting? Anything important going on?" she asked in reply.  
  
"Well, Hammond and Jumper have had this new position for the SGC in mind for over a year, but they are very specific about who they want to fill it. Up until now the candidate hasn't been interested, but now he's told them he's ready to take it," he told her.   
  
"Really? What's the position?" she inquired.  
  
"It would be a strategic advisor and training coordinator position. The person would be in charge of forming new SG teams as needed, and training new recruits. Also they would have an advisory function on treaties and negotiations with other planets. A lot of oversight for the alpha and beta sites too," he explained.  
  
"That's a lot of the work you do outside of leading SG1," she protested.  
  
"Yeah, and they think that they need someone filling that role full time. I think the last time I was missing on that moon for a month emphasized the need," he pointed out.  
  
"So who do they have in mind?" she asked suspiciously.   
  
"They told me a year ago that they wanted me to consider it. I just haven't been ready to give up command of SG1," he admitted.   
  
"And now you are? Because you had better not be doing this because you think I want you to," she warned him.  
  
"Don't you?" he asked.  
  
"Not if you won't be totally happy. I would be miserable if you gave up the job you loved to try to keep me from worrying about you," she said truthfully.   
  
"Well, I won't lie to you. That's a part of it. But only a part. I realized several things over the course of the last month. One is that I really am getting too old to be running around the universe trying to be the hero. The other was that for the first time in a long time I was really scared of dying. I have so much to look forward to now. Then I had a little chat with Teal'c. Turns out he is getting pressure from Bra'tac to come help him out with leading the rebel Jaffa, and Teal'c is feeling a bit torn too. Since we never have found a good replacement for you, and Jonas has left, that only leaves Daniel. Hammond would love to have him fill more of a research role, which is what he was originally brought on board to do. Once he gets his feet back under him, Hammond is thinking of letting him put a science team together to go out and study the things the other teams find that warrant a closer look. Daniel certainly has enough field experience, plus Hammond would find a military guy who likes rocks to lead the team. So put that all together and I suddenly realized that this is the perfect chance for me to make a change and still be able to contribute without riding a desk. I'd still be going off-world, just not as much or into such dangerous situations." he concluded.   
  
Sam was silent for a minute taking everything he had said in. "You've really thought about this, haven't you? And you are sure this is what *you* want?" she asked looking him in the eye. His eyes could never lie to her.  
  
"Yeah, it really is Sam," he said with a smile. One that reached his eyes letting her know that he really meant it.   
  
"Then I am all for it," she beamed. She would never have asked him to take a less dangerous assignment, but she was so glad that he was. She let her hands start to roam and added with a gleam in her eyes "I think we should go inside and celebrate this new position," she added.  
  
"With my folks right upstairs?" he asked pretending to be shocked.  
  
"You can practice all of that Special Ops stealthy stuff," she said.   
  
"Oh, I'm not worried about me," he said as he stood up and reached a hand out to help her up. "I just think they are going to know something's up when you scream my name."  
  
"We'll see who does the screaming, flyboy," she challenged.  
  
Luckily, the master bedroom wasn't directly underneath the upstairs guestroom, and with both bedroom doors closed the sound didn't really travel that well. Otherwise Charles and Maureen would not have gotten much sleep that night.  
  
Despite all of the previous night's activity, Jack had actually slept very well. Now that he had talked over his decision with Sam and it was all settled, he felt as if a weight had been lifted, and with Sam wrapped firmly in his arms he had drifted into a deep, peaceful sleep. Until Sam had stirred and gotten up to use the washroom at 2:30. When she had snuggled back into bed round two of their celebration had begun. He'd managed to get another two hours sleep after that though, and then his body clock had woken him at 05:30. He'd quietly slipped from the bed letting Sam get some much-needed extra sleep, and had gone for a run. After he showered he had put the coffee on and was starting to get together the ingredients for breakfast when his Dad joined him in the kitchen.  
  
"Sleep well?" Jack asked passing Charles a coffee mug and grabbing the pot to fill it up.   
  
"Yes I did. Your mother's just starting to stir. I imagine she'll be down soon," his Dad responded. "Where's Sam?"  
  
"Still sound asleep. She's had a tough week. I figured I'd let her be for a bit," Jack told him. "How do pancakes sound for breakfast?"  
  
"Great. I don't suppose you have any sausages too, do you?" Charles inquired.  
  
"No sorry. Besides the smell would make Sam ill for the rest of the morning. Bacon and sausage still set her off," he apologized.  
  
"I didn't realize she was still having problems. Colleen seemed to think she was over whatever it was she had," Charles commented sincerely concerned.   
  
"She is. This is just good old fashioned morning sickness," Jack informed him.  
  
Charles looked at his son in dismay. Pregnant. That explained a lot. He had wondered what had possessed his son to propose to a woman like Sam, too young and independent for him by far. Still, Sam didn't seem the type to need to trap a man into marrying him. He was about to make a comment to that effect when he noticed something. His son was smiling. Really smiling.   
  
"You're happy about this?" he asked in surprise.  
  
"Over the moon, Dad," Jack replied with a grin.  
  
"Jack, I know you want to do what's right by her, but this is no way to start a marriage. You should be marrying her because you love her not because you got her pregnant," Charles protested.   
  
"Dad, stop right there. I've been in love with Sam Carter for years. I proposed because once she was no longer under my command, I couldn't imagine a life without her by my side. This baby is the result of that love, not the reason for it. We didn't even know she was pregnant until after we had set the wedding date," Jack explained.   
  
Charles was relieved to hear this. He regarded Jack for a minute and compared the man he saw in front of him to the man his son had become after Charlie's death. This Jack was older, wiser, and grayer. He was also happy. The twinkle was back in his eye and the spring was back in his step. His son had a life to look forward to again.   
  
"Congratulations," Charles said sincerely.   
  
"Thanks, Dad," Jack replied.  
  
Just then a half-asleep Sam slipped into the kitchen on a quest to grab some crackers.  
  
"Congratulations to you too, Mom," Charles grinned.  
  
Sam paused with the box of crackers in her hands and looked at Jack in surprise.  
  
"I told him," he confirmed with a grin.  
  
"You're not upset?" Sam questioned Charles.  
  
"I was until I was sure you two weren't getting married just because of this," Charles acknowledged.  
  
"Gosh, no," Sam declared. "I love your son, Mr. O'Neill," she assured him. Then added with a chuckle as she shook the empty cracker box in her hand, "Although don't ask me why right now. Jack you put an empty box away?"   
  
"Oops, sorry," Jack apologized handing her a fresh box from the pantry.  
  
Sam opened the box and started munching to calm down her stomach as she asked the next question. "Does your Mom know too?"  
  
"Not yet," Jack admitted.  
  
Sam turned to Charles and asked, "How do you think she will take the news?"  
  
Charles paused. His wife was a lot more rigid in her beliefs of right and wrong than he was, and he was pretty sure that just like he'd momentarily done, she would cast Sam in the role of Jezebel. He already regretted jumping to that conclusion himself. He took a minute to study his future daughter-in-law. He remembered back to when Maureen had been pregnant and saw the same look now on Sam. She was tired and pale, but she already had that quiet maternal glow. This baby was truly wanted and loved.  
  
"She'll probably be upset at first, but she'll come around," he assured Sam.  
  
Sam sighed. "Well, I'm going to take a shower. You *could* tell her while I'm in there," she suggested to Jack hopefully.  
  
"I *could*. But I think I'll wait so we can do it together," he teased.  
  
"Coward," she pouted as she grabbed the cracker box and headed off to the bathroom.  
  
Not long after they heard the shower start Maureen O'Neill came downstairs and joined her husband and son in the kitchen. Jack quickly served up pancakes for the three of them and they were just clearing the dishes when Sam poked her still damp head into the room.  
  
"Food all put away?" she quizzed cautiously before entering.  
  
"Yep, you're safe," Jack confirmed.  
  
Charles chuckled remembering again back to the days when his wife had been pregnant. He had made every mistake in the book that first time, including a thoughtful attempt to serve Maureen breakfast in bed that had ended disastrously.  
  
"Aren't you going to eat, Sam?" Maureen asked politely.  
  
Sam shook her head. "Bubba doesn't let me do breakfast," she said by way of explanation.  
  
"Bubba?" Charles inquired, now grinning outright.  
  
"I tried to break Jack of the ridiculous name, but it stuck. Even though I think it's a girl," Sam admitted.  
  
"Bubbette?" Jack suggested causing his Dad to laugh as Sam rolled her eyes.  
  
Charles turned to his now very confused wife to let her in on the joke. "We're going to be grandparents again, Mo," he said with a smile.   
  
It was pretty much the last thing she had been expecting, so it didn't register at first. Then she looked at her husband in surprise. Why was he looking so happy? She looked over at her son who had moved to stand behind his fiancée, and had wrapped his arms around her. Now they were standing with her hands over his protectively on her stomach. He had leaned down to whisper something in her ear that had made her smile and his grin was just as big.  
  
"When?" she finally managed to ask. The wedding was in three weeks. Maybe not everyone would need to know about this. Lots of babies were early.  
  
"I'm about 10 weeks along," Sam answered causing Maureen's heart to sink. No mistaking this baby for just a bit early.  
  
She looked at Jack and Sam and shook her head in dismay. Then she excused herself, and went back to the spare room.   
  
Charles saw a flash of pain cross Sam's face before it was quickly masked. Darn, they really should have told his wife without Sam being there. But maybe he could still fix this before it got out of hand, he thought.   
  
"I'll go talk to her," he offered.  
  
Upstairs he found his wife sitting on the edge of the bed. He sat down next to her and took her hand in his.  
  
"Earlier, when Jack told me, I was thinking back to when you were expecting him. Sometimes it seems like just yesterday," he commented.  
  
Maureen just nodded in agreement.   
  
"Do you remember how scared we were? We didn't have a clue," he reminded her.  
  
"I was on the phone every day to my mom panicking," she said with a small smile.   
  
"Sam's mom died when she was thirteen. I wonder who she talks to," he suggested gently, then patted his wife's hand and got up to let her think about that. If he knew Maureen, her maternal instincts would take over from there. He only hoped that poor Sam would appreciated the motherly advice she was about to start getting.   
  
It only took five minutes for Maureen O'Neill to come back downstairs in a slightly different frame of mind.  
  
"I'm sorry," she apologized. "It was something of a shock, and I can't say that I approve of this situation wholeheartedly, but you two are going to have a baby, and that is a blessing from above. Now, Sam, how are you feeling? Is everything alright?" she asked.   
  
As the two women settled in to trade stories of morning sickness, out of control hormones and other first trimester symptoms, Charles and Jack retreated to the family room.  
  
"I don't know what you said to Mom, but thanks Dad," Jack said gratefully.  
  
"I just reminded her of what it was like that first time when she was pregnant with you. It was enough to make her realize that Sam would need all the support she could get," Charles explained.  
  
Soon Teal'c and Daniel arrived, and after introductions were made the four men got ready to leave for the game. Before they headed out Jack pulled Sam into the kitchen.  
  
"Will you be all right alone with my Mom until Janet and Cassie get here?" he asked.  
  
"Jack, please. I've dealt with system lords and CO's like Uterell. I think I can cope with your mother for a bit," Sam replied amused at his concern.  
  
"Oh, I wasn't worried about you. Although I think Mom makes a pretty worthy opponent, I was more concerned about you taking her out," Jack laughed pulling her in for a kiss.  
  
Of course Daniel picked that moment to poke his head into the kitchen. "Give it a rest you two. We need to get going, Jack," he warned.  
  
Jack pulled away with a sigh. "Coming Daniel. You know, your timing is even worse now than before you died if that's possible," he complained.  
  
After they left, Sam carried two glasses of iced tea out to the family room and resumed her conversation with Mrs. O'Neill. After a bit, Maureen brought up the question of what Sam was going to do after the baby was born.  
  
"So, my dear, are you planning on leaving the Air Force?" she asked.  
  
"No, although I am planning on taking a lengthy leave. Jack has just been offered a new position on base that will mean less traveling for him, so he will be around a lot more and we are planning on getting someone to come to the house to sit. We are actually hoping to get the woman that used to care for our goddaughter Cassie, as the people that she is currently working for are moving in a few months," Sam explained.  
  
"You modern women. Erin and Colleen both work too, and it is so hard on them to only be part time moms," Maureen lamented.  
  
"They are still full time mothers, Mrs. O'Neill. They just have other needs that they can only fulfill outside their homes. I can't imagine ever giving up the research I do. It is as much a part of me as this child is," Sam admitted.   
  
Thankfully, Janet and Cassie arrived then and soon the house was full of Cassie's excited chatter.   
  
"How are you and Bubba doing today, Sam?" she asked giving Sam a hug.  
  
"You have been hanging out with the Colonel too much," her mother scolded as she shook hands with Mrs. O'Neill.  
  
The four women headed into Denver and stopped first at a favorite restaurant of Janet's so Sam could eat. When Sam ordered iced tea Cassie quickly jumped in and asked if they had decaf, which they did.  
  
"You *have* been hanging out with the Colonel too much," Sam complained.   
  
"Hey. I have a vested interest in you having a healthy baby. Caffeine is bad for you," Cassie proclaimed.  
  
Later, when Sam and Cassie headed off to use the ladies room, Maureen asked Janet what Cassie had meant. Janet thought for a moment about how to explain.  
  
"Sam and Cassie both have a similar blood anomaly. It's what made Sam so sick six months ago. Both had been told that their chances of conceiving a baby were slim. I'm not sure who was happier when Sam found out she was pregnant, Sam, Jack, or Cassie. When Sam gives birth to a healthy baby, it will mean that Cassie can someday too," she explained.   
  
"So this baby was a big surprise?" Maureen asked.  
  
"Huge. There are some pretty embarrassed doctors out there, including me. We all thought it was unlikely given the disorder. Thank god it was Sam who proved us wrong and not Cassie," Janet said with a shudder. "You should have seen Sam the day she got the news. She had been having symptoms for a week and trying not to get her hopes up. When the results came in she was beaming."  
  
"A little miracle," Maureen commented.   
  
"Yeah, and if anyone deserved it, it was those two. They both have been through so much, just in the last six years. Now maybe it's finally their turn to be happy," Janet said.   
  
The rest of the day was a huge success. Janet's comments to Maureen had helped the older woman to see the situation in a different light, and she was able to join in and help Sam plan for the big day with enthusiasm. They had found her shoes, and then after Sam had blushingly admitted that she was quickly outgrowing all of her bras, they had gone lingerie shopping. That stop had ended in a lot of laughter as Janet kept finding more risqué items for Sam to try on.  
  
"Sam, really you are going on your honeymoon. You need something to wow the man," Janet insisted.  
  
"Mom, Sam could wow the Colonel in BDU's covered in mud," Cassie said in her defense.  
  
"Janet honestly, this is Jack we are talking about. If I want to wow him, I need to get a Minnesota Wild jersey to wear to bed," Sam had protested which had actually gotten a chuckle out of her future mother-in-law.   
  
By the time they had met back up with the men for dinner, everyone was in a good mood, as the Cubs had beaten the Rockies. Dinner was a fun ending to the day, and by the time the O'Neill's were ready to leave the next day the parting at the airport was full of hugs and promises to call. Plans for Charles and Maureen's trip back for the wedding were finalized, and Sam and Jack promised to call the rest of his siblings to give them the baby news. That night as Jack held Sam in his arms after getting in bed, he admitted that having his parents out had ended up being a good idea.  
  
"I do have them now and again," Sam reminded him.  
  
"Yeah, but they always start out seeming slightly crazy," Jack teased. "Not too many people propose blowing up a sun or riding an asteroid through Earth and have it be a *good* idea."  
  
"True, but not too many people have saving the planet in their job descriptions, either," she pointed out.  
  
"We lead a very strange life," Jack conceded.   
  
"And we are going to have to figure out how to fit a baby into this very strange life," Sam pointed out in concern.   
  
"Don't worry. You'll think of something," Jack assured her. "Besides, kids don't realize that their lives are strange. Whatever they have is normal to them. Bubba won't even think twice about Uncle Teal'c or crazy ol' cousin Thor."   
  
"Bubbette," Sam corrected automatically, and then realized that Jack had her doing it now. She looked at him to see that sure enough, he had that self satisfied little grin going.   
  
"Jack?" she inquired.  
  
"What hon?" he replied starting to nuzzle her neck.  
  
"I am so naming this baby myself," she told him as turned in his arms to kiss him.  
  
The end  
  
To be continued in "With This Ring" coming later this summer! 


	4. With This Ring

Title: "With This Ring"  
  
Author: Jackie W.   
  
Email: jackiesfic@aol.com  
  
  
  
Part 1  
  
Sam shook her head as she headed to her lab. At some point they had been organized. There had been a plan. They'd been granted two weeks of downtime, choosing to take one week before the wedding, and one after for their honeymoon. They should have known it would never work out that way.   
  
They had headed home late the Friday before with a sigh of relief. All paperwork had been turned in, and all lab projects turned over to either Area 51 or to one of the other scientists at the SGC. They had started out their weekend calling around to each of the out-of-town relatives to finalize their travel plans. On Saturday afternoon they had stopped in at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort to confirm the number attending the reception, and to finalize the room reservations. The resort had been able to give them all of the rooms on the same floor, plus of course the Honeymoon suite for the wedding night. All of the reception plans were in place, so Saturday at least had ended up being a very productive day. On Sunday, they had spent the morning getting the house in order, and then Sam had headed out shopping to pick up things she needed for the honeymoon.   
  
She had been quite happy with her purchases that day. The black bikini she had originally purchased five months ago had gotten too snug, so she had replaced it with one that showed off her new curvy figure perfectly. She had also ordered that Minnesota Wild jersey that she had joked about with Janet, Cassie and her future month-in-law, so she stopped and picked it up from the sporting goods store. The she headed to Victoria's Secret. It wouldn't be long before she would be in maternity clothes, so she figured she might as well treat herself (and Jack) to something sexy to wear on her wedding night. She also picked up a couple of pairs of lacy underpants to wear under the jersey and a few other surprises to keep him on his toes.   
  
She had just returned home, when Jack's pager went off. He was needed back on base to help organize a rescue party. SG5 had not checked in on time, and Hammond had dialed them up to check on their status. They had been caught in a rockslide, and only the young Captain on the team was conscious to report their situation. He thought he had a broken shoulder, but other than that was fine. One of his teammates was unconscious but appeared stable. His CO, and the other team member were buried under the rubble, although he had briefly made contact with his CO, who said his leg was pinned, and he was drifting in and out of consciousness.  
  
Sam automatically jumped into the truck with Jack as he headed for base, which was a good thing because her pager went off minutes later. The first medical team through reported that the DHD had also taken a hit in the slide, and they would probably need a generator to allow them to dial home more than once.   
  
By the time the two of them had reached the base, the heavy equipment needed for the rescue was being assembled, and a team being put together. Jack broke his own record for gearing up and then went to take charge. Shortly after the rescue team dialed out, the medical team manually dialed in to transport Captain Steffens and Lieutenant Hunter back to the infirmary. Steffens had been able to show the rescue team the last known location of his teammates before heading back.  
  
That had been two days ago. While the rescue crew had worked on digging out the two missing officers, Sam had quickly assembled and tested a naquadah generator and then had sent it though with a couple of her techs to set it up. They were all ready by the time the rescue team had secured the body of Captain Hunter, and the severely injured but alive Lt. Colonel Buckman. Unfortunately, Buckman's leg had been crushed beyond repair, and it had been amputated twelve hours after their return.   
  
Jack had been sequestered with the General for the rest of the day on Tuesday. They had families to notify, and two team members to replace. Sam had spent the day putting together a second generator, and securing it with Sgt. Siler in case it was needed while she was gone. When Jack finally finished up with the General they were debating the merits of going home, when Hammond insisted that they use one of the VIP suites. Sam's ultrasound was scheduled for in the morning, and they would need to be back on base for that anyway.   
  
Now it was Wednesday, and she was alternating between nervousness and excitement. She had headed down to her lab to ensure that everything was shut down so they could leave right after her appointment. It wasn't long before Jack joined her there, having cleared his desk again.   
  
"Ready for your first baby pictures?" he grinned.  
  
"I can't wait," she admitted, shutting down her PC with a sigh.  
  
They headed down to infirmary hand in hand, ignoring the small smiles from the passing personnel. Ten minutes later Sam had changed into a pair of blue infirmary pajamas, and was getting her vitals taken by Janet.   
  
"Sam, you are doing really well. You've gained back all of the weight that you lost, plus four pounds," she happily announced.  
  
"You don't need to tell me," Sam grimaced. "I'm starting to worry about my wedding dress not fitting!"  
  
Soon Dr. Peterson had the ultrasound set up and after spreading the cold gel over Sam's abdomen, she started trying to find a good angle to view Baby O'Neill. For the moment the screen was turned away from Sam and Jack, so they waited anxiously holding hands while the two doctors tweaked settings and maneuvered the paddle a couple of times. Finally they stopped and Dr. Peterson pointed something out to Janet.   
  
"What's wrong?" Sam immediately asked.  
  
"Nothing," Dr. Person assured them with a smile. I just want Dr. Fraiser to check when you had your last shot of Depro-Provera. We may be off a bit on your conception date."  
  
Sure enough, Janet returned with Sam's file and a calendar and the two doctors consulted for a moment. Then they turned the screen towards Sam and Jack with matching smiles that helped the couple relax. Sam looked at the screen, but was a bit confused by the image.   
  
"So let me tell you what we have here," Dr Peterson began. "Sam, you conceived about 11 weeks after you went off of the birth control. Next time I would recommend that you use alternate birth control for at least 16 weeks before you try to conceive to let your hormone levels go back to normal."  
  
"Is that why my levels have been high?" Sam asked.  
  
"In a round about way. They tend to go into overdrive after stopping taking any hormone based birth control, and there are studies that have shown an increase in multiple births for conception in the first three months after stopping. It's not normally too much of a problem with the Depro-Provera as it wears off over time, and it usually takes longer than three months for a woman to be able to conceive after their last shot. We think that your unique body chemistry made it less effective more quickly. Anyway, what we have here on the screen is O'Neill baby number one," she said pointing to an obvious heartbeat, "and O'Neill baby number two," she continued moving her finger to where another steady pulse appeared. "Both babies look perfectly normal for 14 weeks along, about a week further than we originally thought."  
  
Sam felt Jack's grip on her hand tighten, and she quickly looked from the screen to his startled face, and then back at the screen again.   
  
"Twins?" two shocked voices inquired simultaneously.  
  
Part 2  
  
They had gotten a printout of the ultrasound, and told Janet they were going to keep this to themselves for a few days, then they'd made their escape from the mountain. They were halfway home when Jack's shock gave way to a chuckle. Sam looked up from the picture in her hand in amazement.  
  
"What are you laughing at?" she asked, confused by his sudden mirth.  
  
"Twins? Did you feel two was necessary to keep up your wonder woman image?" he teased.   
  
"It's not funny," she complained, although she found her panic lessening and her lips started to curve up in spite of herself. "Aren't you at all concerned?"   
  
He instantly sobered. "I'm concerned about you and the babies. Having one baby is no cakewalk. Having two, well it's got to be twice as hard. But as long as you are healthy and they are healthy, then no, the thought of two doesn't really bother me," he admitted. "It's kind of nice. I'm certainly not getting any younger, and this will jumpstart our family. Besides, we can handle anything together. And we will have plenty of help," he assured her.  
  
Sam knew he was right, but she still was overwhelmed at the thought. As they pulled into the driveway she turned to him and confessed, "It's just that I have *no* idea what I'm doing. Now I'll have double the chance of screwing up."   
  
"Well, I can't say I have a lot of experience with twins. I was only seven when Colleen and Eileen were born. But Sara did make sure that I was a pretty hands-on father. When I was around that is," he told her.  
  
"Thank goodness. I was trying to imagine going to Teal'c for advice," Sam quipped as she started to relax. It did help that at least Jack had done this before.   
  
"Teal'c? Why Teal'c for crying out loud?" Jack questioned her in dismay.  
  
"Well, Janet has never had a baby, although she will be a great help if they are ill. And while Daniel seems to have mastered delivering babies, he has never cared for one that I know of. Teal'c does have experience," she explained.  
  
"Yeah, but not with bottle warmers and disposable diapers. You would have more luck going to Hammond," Jack pointed out.  
  
"Well, I'm glad I won't have to. I'll have you to show me the ropes," she said. Aware that the subject might be bringing up old memories she was watching him closely.   
  
And Jack was remembering, but they were good memories. Charlie splashing in the bathtub and the wonderful smell of him when he was clean, dry and powdered. And an image of him as a newborn snuggled into Jack's shoulder as he was rocked to sleep in the wee hours of the morning. He was so looking forward to being around more to enjoy those moments this time. Sam was relieved to see Jack smiling at her.  
  
"Stick with me. I'll have you bathing and diapering like a pro in no time," he promised her.  
  
She looked at him with a twinkle in her eye. "So Dr. Spock, is there anything I should be doing now?"  
  
"You only have two priorities at this point, food and plenty of rest. So go put your feet up while I check the mail and phone messages, then we'll decide what to have to eat," he told her as he led her to the couch. "Do you want something to drink?"  
  
"Jack, I'm pregnant not crippled. I can get it," she protested.   
  
"Sit, Sam. That's an order. Here, there are a couple of science journals that came in the mail. Relax and read," he pleaded.  
  
Sam had to admit that she was tired. She slipped off her shoes and settled in with an article on cloning research. She only managed one paragraph before she dozed off. When she woke up, there was blanket thrown over her, and it was very quiet in the house. She got up in search of her soon-to-be husband, and found him staring into the doorway of the smaller spare bedroom.  
  
"What's up?" she asked, wrapping an arm around his waist and wiggling into the doorway to see what he was looking at.   
  
"I'm trying to decide if we can fit two cribs, a changing table, a dresser and a rocking chair in here. I know the upstairs spare room is bigger, but this room is right across from our bedroom and it's much more convenient. I was also thinking that in a year or two we are going to need a bigger house," he explained.  
  
"Now who's thinking too much?" she teased. "I think this room will work. Babies clothes don't need a huge dresser, so we could get a corner armoire that won't take up much room. And as for the rest, we can always add onto this house if we want. We have plenty of time to think about it," she argued. "Now let's get some food. I'm starved."  
  
"Well you are eating for three," he acknowledged with a grin.  
  
They spent the evening packing two sets of bags. One small overnight bag for their wedding night and several bags of things they wanted to take to the cabin. Sam had wrapped all of sexy lingerie in tissue so Jack couldn't see it, and the Minnesota Wild jersey had been folded up inside a pair of jeans so it was also not visible. Then they had gone to bed and made love. They fell asleep content for the moment that everything would be just fine.  
  
Thursday morning found them up bright and early ready to run all of the errands that had been neglected over the last three days. By mid-afternoon they felt like they had everything back under control, and they headed off together to pick up Jack's parents at the airport. While the siblings were all flying in at various times the next day, the O'Neills and Jacob were arriving a day early so they could all go out to dinner and they could meet each other, something Jack was a little nervous about.   
  
He needn't have been. Jacob got on well with the O'Neills, and Selmac never made a peep. The only awkward moment had been when Charles had asked Jacob what he was doing with himself now that he was retired. Jacob had covered nicely, repeating the story that the Air Force had come up with and describing in a vague manner how he was "consulting". He even lamented that the only bad part was not being able to see his children and grandchildren more often. Charles had sympathized. With three of his children living in different states, he didn't get to see them often either.  
  
Friday dawned dark and stormy. The good news was that once this band of storms passed by it was supposed to be picture perfect for the next three days. The bad news was that flights were delayed and Jack and Sam were kept busy trying to keep up with new arrival times, and ferrying the newcomers to the hotel when they finally made it into town. Thankfully they had rented several large SUV's for the weekend that were capable of handling the families and their luggage, so when Patrick and Colleen's families ended up arriving within 10 minutes of each other, Sam and Jack each drove a vehicle to pick them up. By 15:00 everyone had made it to the hotel except for Sam's brother Mark and his family. Before they headed back to the airport Jack noticed Sam looking a bit pale.  
  
"You need to rest. We still have a long evening ahead of us with the rehearsal and you'll want to be able to enjoy it. Take a nap and I'll go pick them up," he suggested.   
  
"Jack, you don't even know what my brother looks like," Sam protested.   
  
"So I'll stop by the resort and pick up your Dad. He wanted to go originally anyway before things got crazy," Jack told her. "Now go take a nap."  
  
Sam should have been upset that he was treating her like an invalid, but frankly it was nice to have him looking after her. She was still tiring easily and Jack was quick to pick up on the signs and make sure she didn't overdo it. And he'd been cooking. Well, throwing together a salad, and cooking something on the grill, so at least she was eating healthier than take-out. She really could get used to this treatment she thought as she slipped into sleep.   
  
Meanwhile, Jack and Jacob were meeting the very weary stragglers at the airport. Mark was too tired to do more than basic introductions, but he spent the ride to the resort trying to size up Jack O'Neill. When they got back to the hotel he cornered Jacob.  
  
"You didn't tell me he was old enough to be Sam's father," he complained.  
  
"Don't exaggerate, Mark. He is only 12 years older than Sam is. I met him a year after he became Sam's CO. He had brown hair then. I think your sister is to blame for a lot of the gray," he explained with a chuckle.  
  
"Still, he's way too old for her. She could do much better," Mark objected.  
  
"I'll be the first to admit that Jack has his faults. But I think you're wrong about her being able to do better. Jack is a good man," Jacob told his son.  
  
"You really like him?" Mark asked, still uncertain.  
  
"Yeah. He aggravates the heck out of me, but I like him. I even respect him," Jacob admitted with a grin. "But if you ever tell him that I will deny it. Besides, don't you think it's a bit too late to be putting in your two cents? They're getting married in twenty-four hours, and they're expecting a baby for Pete's sake," Jacob chastised his son.  
  
"Ok, ok. I get the picture. I will give the guy a chance. But if he ever does anything to hurt her…" Mark warned.  
  
"You will have to stand in line to have your turn at him. Your sister has quite a lot of people who are very protective of her. Wait until you meet Teal'c," Jacob assured him.  
  
The rehearsal that evening was a casual, fun affair. All of the O'Neills, and Carters along with Janet, Cassie, Teal'c, Daniel, Jonas Quinn and General Hammond met up at the Cadet chapel at the Academy where the ceremony was going to be held. Sam and Jack had discussed having it elsewhere, since they really were just inviting family. But then had decided that even though the SGC staff was not invited to the actual reception (they were having a separate gathering on base the next day) they should all be invited to attend the ceremony if they wished. And besides, General Kerrigan had insisted that Sam, as a graduate of the Academy, should be married there.   
  
Sam had requested that a friend of the family be allowed to officiate, which had worked out well. Father Joseph Downing was an Air Force chaplain that had known her father for years. He even knew General Hammond. The fact that he was a Catholic priest had pleased the O'Neills as well. For his part, Father Joe had been happy to oblige. It had been way too long since he had seen his old friends, and he was looking forward to seeing the two younger Carters again. He had presided over Marie Carter's funeral, and had managed to keep in touch with Jacob, but he had not seen their children again since that day. He had been pleasantly surprised when he had gotten the request, and even more thrilled when he had flown to Colorado Springs several weeks ago to meet with the bride and groom. Samantha had grown into a beautiful and confident woman that her mother would be proud of.   
  
In keeping with the casual air of the evening, once they had walked through the logistics of the ceremony, they all descended on a local pizza place to have dinner. After they'd eaten, the lively mood continued. Sam was holding reign over the pool table taking on all challengers, and teaching her future niece Maggie and Mark's son Will the finer points of the game. Jack had the rest of the kids organized into a lively card game (Heaven only knew where the cards had come from) and the rest of the adults were sitting around chatting. Mark Carter started to relax as the evening wore on. He saw what his father meant about Sam being protected. She had obviously close relationships with the three men that had been introduced as teammates, and he was happy to notice that her fiancé seemed to be ok with that. By the end of the evening the three separate families were all mingling happily.   
  
Since a large portion of the group was jet-lagged and the guys had early tee times in the morning, the party broke up at a reasonable hour. Sam and Jack parted ways reluctantly much to the amusement of their family and friends.   
  
"Come on Son, you'll see her tomorrow. It's not as if she's moving across the galaxy," Charles teased at their prolonged kiss.   
  
Sam hid her laughter in Jack's shoulder, which prompted him to issue a warning. "Major!" he reprimanded trying to be stern.  
  
"I know, Sir. Sorry, Sir. Ceasing the giggling now, Sir!" she said, stepping out of his arms to give him a sloppy salute.   
  
On hearing her words Mark turned to look at her in shock. He remembered vividly visiting his sister to meet her then fiancé Jonas Hanson and hating the way she gave into his demands. But when he looked at Sam he saw a twinkle in her eye and he noticed that Jack O'Neill was also grinning. He had obviously missed something. He looked at his father for an explanation.   
  
"Don't look at me. It must be a private joke. Care to share Sam?" Jacob inquired.  
  
Sam looked at Jack with a wicked gleam in her eye. "Well it all has to do with…" was as far as she got before Jack interrupted.   
  
"Ah, ah, ah! Don't go there. Unless you want me to recount some of your more noteworthy moments of the last six years," he warned her.   
  
"Shutting up now. Janet, let's go home. I have it on good authority that tomorrow is going to be a big day," Sam relented.   
  
Sam was opting for tradition by staying over with Janet and Cassie, thereby not seeing Jack again until she walked down the aisle to become his wife. Daniel, Teal'c and Jonas would be crashing with Jack and they would be meeting up with the rest of the golfers at the resort in the morning. Then while Jack checked into the Honeymoon suite to get showered and dressed, Teal'c, Jonas and Daniel would go pick up the three ladies and take them to the chapel. That would give the girls plenty of time to get dressed in the bride's room, and the three ushers would be available to greet any early guests. Despite their good intentions of getting a solid night of sleep, Janet, Cassie and Sam were still chatting several hours after they got home.   
  
"Are you nervous?" Cassie asked.  
  
"Sort of. But mostly just about everything going all right tomorrow, not really about getting married. I just have this fear that there will be some galactic calamity and we will never get to say 'I Do'," Sam admitted.  
  
"So no cold feet?" Janet pressed.  
  
"Strangely, no. I think that the two of us have been through so much together that in some ways we already have a bond that is stronger than marriage," Sam explained.  
  
"It is kind of freaky how you two can communicate with just a look," Janet acknowledged.  
  
"Soul mates," Cassie agreed nodding.  
  
"It's nice to know true love still exists in the world. Gives us singles hope," Janet sighed.  
  
"Mmm, like hoping that Major Conners will ask you dance on Sunday?" Sam teased.  
  
Cassie immediately perked up. "Who is Major Conners?"  
  
"General Hammond's new Chief of Staff. He's very nice, and offered to organize the SGC reception. Your mom has been spending a lot of time with him." Sam revealed.  
  
"I've been helping with the party planning," Janet protested.  
  
"Sure you have," Sam challenged, causing her friend to glare at her.  
  
"Oh my god!" Cassie exclaimed in delight. "Is he cute?"  
  
"You'll have to come to the reception on Sunday and meet him," Sam told her with a shrug.  
  
Cassie had been non-committal about attending the SGC event, but now her curiosity was peaked.  
  
"Of course I'll be there. I wouldn't miss it for the world, Sam," Cassie vowed giving her mother an innocent smile.  
  
Janet was too busy giving Sam her best threatening look to notice. Meanwhile, Sam was trying to look as innocent as Cassie and failing miserably. Finally she just laughed out loud and decided to change the subject.  
  
"Well, I have a hot date tomorrow, so I guess I had better go get some rest. Our appointments at the salon are at 10:00 so at least we can sleep in a bit," she said getting to her feet.   
  
"No problem here," Cassie commented. "It's you and Mom that have ridiculous body clocks."  
  
"Not anymore. I swear I can sleep the clock around now that I'm pregnant," Sam complained.   
  
"That will ease up soon," Janet promised. "Once you make it past about the fourth month you should have plenty of energy again. At least until you get too big to sleep comfortably."  
  
"Oh, great. So much fun to look forward to," Sam groaned as she made her way to Janet's guestroom.   
  
True to her word, Sam slept until 9:00 and then lay in bed for a few minutes to let the reality wash over her. Today was her wedding day.  
  
Part 3  
  
General Kerrigan and his wife had attended their fair share of weddings at the Cadet Chapel, but they had never seen anything like the sea of Air Force blue that filled the pews that afternoon. Not only because of the shear volume of people that were packed into the chapel, but because of the makeup of the officers. Far from the fresh out of the academy young officers that normally made up the guests at weddings held here, the men and women attending today were an array of higher ranking officers, including, to General Kerrigan's surprise, General John Jumper, Chief of Staff of the Air Force. That brought the total of number of generals to four, and then there were the impressive number of Colonels and Majors. There were even a group of Marines. He wasn't surprised when his wife turned to him with a raised eyebrow and inquired "Just who are the bride and groom again?" He'd always known whatever Samantha Carter was involved in, it was important, now he had even more evidence.   
  
Meanwhile, in an anteroom provided for the bridal party, Janet and Cassie were just finishing up getting dressed when there was a knock at the door. Since Sam was still in her robe, choosing to wait until the last minute to step into her dress, Janet cautiously peaked out to see Maureen, Kathleen and Anna.   
  
"Come on in," she invited. "We were just wondering if Sam should finish getting dressed or wait a few more minutes."  
  
"Wow, I love the dresses!" Kathleen exclaimed to Janet and Cassie. "We came back to make sure everything was under control and to let you know that they are starting to seat the stragglers. Jacob and Jack are in the back, and Daniel and Teal'c are about to join them. Jonas is going to finish seating us," she explained.  
  
"So everything is under control out there?" Sam asked cautiously. As they had arrived at the chapel an hour ago it had suddenly dawned on her that she was leaving two aliens and a recently descended, slightly confused anthropologist in charge of receiving the wedding guests.  
  
"Yeah, I expected Jack to be a wreck, but he and your Dad were out front greeting people for quite a while and he was relaxed and happy," Kathleen informed them.  
  
Sam looked over to Janet with a sigh of relief. That would because she had made Janet call him on his cell phone and point out that his family was about to be seated by the three stooges. Jack had grabbed Jacob and hurried to the chapel in time to be there before any of the other guests.   
  
"Well, Sam just needs to step into her dress and shoes. And put the flowers in her hair," Janet said turning to take Sam's dress off the hanger. Five minutes later the bride was standing in front of the mirror as Kathleen tweaked her train, and Janet made sure the wreath of roses in her hair were secure.   
  
As Cassie handed her the bouquet, Anna whispered, "Aunt Sam, you look beautiful."  
  
"Thank you Anna. I *feel* beautiful," Sam admitted with a big grin.   
  
"Janet, Cassie, Maureen, and Kathleen could only nod their agreement as they fought back tears. The simple satin off-the-shoulder white dress was truly breathtaking. The only adornment on the entire dress was a scattering of rosebuds that adorned the train, embroidered in the palest of pink. Several pink rosebuds were entwined with the white roses that made up the wreath atop her head, and six pink roses were mixed in with the white ones of her bouquet. She wore a string of her mother's pearls around her neck, and pearl earrings that Jack had given her as a wedding present to match.  
  
Maureen O'Neill was the first to find her voice. "You are stunning, Samantha. My son is not going to know what hit him. Now, I'll go hunt down your father and let him know you are ready for him," she said giving her very soon-to-be daughter-in-law a careful hug.  
  
  
  
Kathleen and Anna went to be seated, while Maureen went to find the male members of the bridal party. She was just as bowled over by them as she had been by the ladies. Jacob and Jack in their dress blues, medals gleaming, were complimented nicely by Daniel and Teal'c in midnight blue tuxedos.  
  
After giving her eldest son a big hug, she turned to Jacob. "Your daughter is ready. Be prepared to have your breath taken away. She looks incredible," Maureen warned him.  
  
"How is Sam holding up," Jack asked in concern.  
  
"She's positively glowing, Jack. Now, I'd better get seated so you can marry her before you implode with excitement," she teased as Jack was rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet.   
  
He gave her a lop-sided grin and a kiss on her cheek. "Thanks, Mom,"  
  
Before he knew it, Jack was standing at the front of the chapel watching as first Cassie and then Janet walked towards him, both positively lovely in lavender dresses. Cassie looked so grown up that he found it hard to believe that the beautiful young woman was the same girl that they had found lost and alone on Hanka just six years before. Then his attention was riveted on the vision in white that had just entered the church on her father's arm and was floating down the aisle towards him. Suddenly, he felt a poke in his ribs and Daniel was whispering in his ear, "Breath, Jack."  
  
He realized that he had indeed been holding his breath, afraid that if he dared to exhale he would wake up from what was surely a dream. After all, he had imagined this scene dozens of times before when his subconscious had betrayed the carefully constructed denial that his conscious mind had built up over the years. Sam's hand felt real enough though as Jacob placed it in his, and he could feel the grin on his face growing in response to her blinding smile, so this must be the real thing. It was with a sigh of relief that he turned to make his vows.   
  
Father Joe had been happy when they had settled on using traditional vows. He always felt a sense of continuity when couples used the words that had been repeated for generations. He had been even more pleased when both the bride and the groom had each come to him with one special line they wanted to add. It showed that they took the vows seriously.  
  
And so six years and five months after Sam had first walked into the briefing room to meet her new CO, Sam Carter and Jack O'Neill vowed to love and honor each other, from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health. Jack also promised Sam that he would 'Always care for her a lot more than he was supposed to', while Sam vowed 'To never leave him behind'. While some of their family and friends might not have understood the significance of those promises, those who had fought by their side in a secret war were moved by the appropriateness of the words.  
  
The rest of the service flew by, and soon Father Joe pronounced them man and wife. Jack and Sam turned to each other and paused, both wanting to indelibly impress this first moment as husband and wife into their memories. Finally Daniel cleared his throat and demanded, "Just kiss already!"  
  
And they did, to the whoops and applause of all of those in attendance, many of whom had been waiting for more than six years to see this day. After the ceremony, the wedding party, Jacob and Jack's parents, along with General Hammond remained behind to greet those not attending the family reception today. The rest of their family went back to the resort to have appetizers and drinks in the banquet hall. Charles and Maureen were introduced to an overwhelming number of officers and a few civilian scientists, who all had nothing but the best wishes for their son and daughter-in-law. However they were truly left speechless when they were introduced to General Jumper, and he offered his congratulations along with those of the President and First Lady.   
  
Finally the bride and groom were ready to head to their awaiting car, but when they stepped outside they were met by an archway of swords, the length of which stunned them. At the head of the two lines were the four Generals grinning broadly. Laughing the two officers passed under the long passageway of raised steel to join Janet, Cassie, Daniel and Teal'c in the bridal party's stretch limo. Jack was instantly handed a glass of champagne, while Sam was given sparking apple cider, which Cassie was also drinking. They clinked glasses, and after downing a good quantity of the contents they leaned in to kiss each other causing the others in the car to groan, and reach to save the drinks that were about to slip from their grasp.   
  
When they arrived at the reception, the photographer tried to nab them right away for some formal pictures, but Jack insisted that they have some time to mingle and grab some food first. Sam was grateful as she was starving. Now that her morning sickness had let up it seemed like she was always hungry. 'I'm going to be as big as a house by the time these babies are born' she thought as she grabbed another appetizer. She caught Jack's eye as she nibbled and he came over to tease her.  
  
"Should I have them bring you your own tray?" he quipped.  
  
"You won't think it's so funny when I'm sending you out in the middle of the night to get me tacos," she warned.  
  
  
  
"Tacos? Won't those give you heartburn?" Jack asked.  
  
"Not if I wash them down with the chocolate ice cream that you will have stopped to get," she predicted.  
  
"Ah, of course, that would make a big difference. So, Tacos, and chocolate ice cream? I can handle that," he promised with a kiss.   
  
"I'm not guaranteeing anything. It could get a lot stranger before we're done," Sam cautioned.  
  
"Stranger than walking through a wormhole and meeting little gray aliens?" Jack scoffed.  
  
"No, probably not," she chuckled.  
  
"Ok, then," Jack said guiding her over to talk her brother and his family.   
  
Later as the celebration was in high gear, the toasts were given. Daniel and Janet toasted their best friends, each recounting non-classified anecdotes about them and their stubborn devotion to duty that had kept them apart for so long. Jacob toasted his daughter and the only man he trusted with her life. Charles similarly toasted the new couple, welcoming Sam into the O'Neill family. Hammond got up and recounted their first meeting and how the sparks had flown. He admitted that by the end of that first day even he had put money into the pool on how long it would be before those sparks ignited and the two got together. Finally it was Jack's turn.   
  
"As you all know, speeches are not my forte. But Sam and I would like to thank you all for coming and sharing this incredible day with us. For the one or two of you that haven't heard, Sam is pregnant. And we have a couple of baby updates to share with you all. First, her due-date has been moved up to the last week in January, January 25th to be exact, which just means that January 25th is the one date that she probably won't give birth on. But more importantly, being the overachiever that she is, we found out on Wednesday that we are having twins," he announced to an overjoyed group.  
  
Hugs and kisses and congratulations were just winding down when Colleen commented to Jack, "You do know that this is justice finally being handed down from on high, don't you big brother?" When he looked at her in confusion she added, "Now you could easily have your very own set of honest to goodness Bobbsey twins!"  
  
Part 4  
  
The newlyweds were late for brunch with their families the next morning, which caused a few knowing smiles. Of course the grin on Jack's face may have had something to do with those as well. Once he was deep in conversation with his brother Patrick, Kathleen cornered Sam.   
  
"I see you haven't lost your touch. My brother looks totally off balance this morning," she teased her new sister-in-law.   
  
"Well I had to make up for falling asleep on him last night," Sam admitted with a rueful grin.  
  
"You didn't! On your wedding night?" Kathleen exclaimed, eyes wide in disbelief.  
  
"Oh, believe me I did. Although it was Jack's fault," Sam accused.  
  
  
  
The night before, as the two of them had finally made it to the bridal suite she had felt her energy starting to lag. But after carefully removing her necklace, earrings and the wreath from her hair, and having Jack unfasten her dress, she had taken her overnight bag into the bathroom determined to rally. She had carefully hung up the dress, and changed from the white bridal lingerie into a sinful, short black lace negligee that she had picked out just for that night. By the time she went back out to the bedroom she was feeling better, especially when she saw her husband standing by the lit fireplace in just his dress pants, having removed his jacket, shirt, shoes and socks. God he had a gorgeous body. She moved over to him, ready to seduce those pants right off of him. Jack however had other ideas. He knew Sam was exhausted, and he had a game plan to ensure she relaxed and got a good night's sleep. So he lifted her in his arms and carried her over to the turned down bed, placing her gently in the middle. Then after removing his pants so he was clad just in boxers he joined her. When her hands started to wander over his body he stopped her and told to just lay back and enjoy. Normally his cleaver hands and lips had her moaning as her climax raced through her body. Tonight, after slipping the scrap of black lace that barely qualified as underwear off of her, he set a totally different pace, and she felt a warmth begin to steal slowly over her body making her feel wonderfully lethargic and serenely gratified. Before she knew it, her eyelids began to feel like there were weights attached, and with a sigh she drifted into a very contented sleep.   
  
As the morning light flickered across her eyelids, Sam reluctantly began to wake up. Slowly the events of the previous day came drifting back, causing her to smile as she let herself relax further into Jack's embrace. The wedding, the reception, the wedding night…. DAMN! She stiffened in Jack arms, and he too began to stir.  
  
"Good morning," he murmured.   
  
"I am so sorry," she said, burying her head into his shoulder.  
  
"For what? Being exhausted? Sam, I knew you were tired. That's why I told you to just lay back and relax," Jack admitted.   
  
She pulled herself up so she was leaning on one elbow and could look him in the eye. He wasn't kidding. She shook her head in amazement. She should have known that Jack would put her needs before his. He may not be much for spouting words of love, but his actions always made up for that fact, and she was never in any doubt about how he felt about her. And right now if the light that had just appeared in his eyes was any indication, she was lusted after. Of course the way she was leaning over him was giving him an eyeful of cleavage. She gave him a wicked grin as her free hand feathered down his chest until she found the waistband of his boxers.  
  
"Well then, it seems that this marriage has yet to be consummated," she pointed out, sitting up a bit so she could use both hands to tug his boxers off. "A situation that needs to be remedied as soon as possible," she insisted, as she slid the lace negligee over her head.   
  
A split second later she had been flipped onto her back and Jack's lips were hovering over hers, his body pressing her delightfully into the softness of the mattress, his hands eagerly gliding over her soft skin, until they discovered that she ready for him.   
  
"I guess I'll just have to make you officially mine immediately then, Mrs. O'Neill," he whispered as their bodies joined to blissfully complete the promises made the day before.   
  
Much later in the shower, Sam had staked her own claim of ownership on Jack's body, causing their tardiness, and the bemused grin Jack was currently sporting.  
  
  
  
Sam turned to Kathleen with a smile.   
  
"I was exhausted and Jack lulled me to sleep. So we had a wedding morning, instead of a wedding night. It worked out just fine," she grinned.  
  
Kathleen's laugh turned to a look of concern. "How are you doing, Sam? This has been a hectic week for you, and in your condition you need to take it easy," she warned. She remembered Jack telling her that Sam's illness could be triggered by stress.  
  
"I'm fine, Kathleen. Honest. A bit tired, but that's to be expected. Jack makes sure I get plenty of rest, and I have all of next week to spend in bed. Of course I don't plan on wasting all of that time in bed sleeping," Sam admitted with a wink. "Hey I have an ultrasound picture. Do you want to see it?" she asked.  
  
"Heck yes!" Kathleen exclaimed.  
  
A few minutes later Sam was surrounded as she pointed out the two distinct small bodies in the black and white image. Patrick and Jack turned from where they were talking to see what all of the commotion was about. Patrick shook his head as he watched the women's excitement.  
  
"Sam had better not be giving Erin any ideas," Patrick complained. "I'm way too old to be changing diapers."  
  
"Hey! If you're too old, what does that make me?" Jack pointed out.  
  
"Crazy?" his brother suggested.  
  
"Probably, but it's a good kind of insanity," Jack insisted.  
  
Patrick nodded his understanding. Jack was lucky to be getting a second chance at a family. "And I'm really happy for you. I'm just saying I'm glad it's you and not me."  
  
"Are you sure? Because, you could all come for a visit in the spring and lend a hand for a week or two. Erin could get her baby fix," Jack suggested.  
  
"Nice try, brother dear. I'm sure you could get Kathleen or Colleen to fall for it though, so don't give up!" Patrick assured him as he headed over to separate his wife from the baby madness.   
  
Charles took the opportunity to wander over to have a chat with his son.   
  
"Well, you two sure know how to stir up excitement" he chuckled, looking over at the gaggle of females now discussing labor and deliveries.   
  
"Wouldn't want life to get too dull," Jack responded with a grin.  
  
"I don't think you need to worry about that for another 20 years or so," Charles guaranteed him. "I remember Colleen and Eileen seeming like they could get into 10 times more trouble than either you or Patrick did as toddlers, and they were girls!"   
  
Their attention was momentarily diverted back over to the gossiping females by laughter. Maureen was obviously telling a 'terrible twins' story, as both Colleen and Eileen were looking embarrassed. Sam turned at that moment and caught Jack's eye, and for a split second Charles saw the emotions that passed between the two before Sam turned back to the storyteller.   
  
"You know Jack, I want to apologize for all of the grief we gave you when we first found out you were getting married again. Your mother and I were very wrong to judge Sam before we got to know her. You two are obviously very good for each other," Charles admitted.  
  
"Thanks Dad. And you are right at least on my part. Sam makes me incredibly happy," Jack replied.  
  
"I think it's safe to say she feels that same about you, Jack. We can all see it," Charles assured him.  
  
The rest of the morning was spent chatting and catching up with everyone. It would probably be a long time before Sam and Jack would be able to get together with their families again, since by the holiday's Sam wouldn't be up to traveling or entertaining. Eventually it was time to check out of their rooms and get everyone back to the airport for their flights home. Jacob would be the only one staying, so he could attend the SGC reception later in the day. At 13:00 Sam and Jack finally pulled up into their driveway. Sam was looking forward to a nap before she had to get dressed for the next party. When they got to the front porch, Jack stopped her. After unlocking the door he swept Sam up into his arms.   
  
"Jack, your knees!" Sam protested.  
  
"Even pregnant with twins you still weigh next to nothing Sam," he assured her as he carried her over the threshold. He set her down and gave her a light kiss. "We are going to work on that next week up at the cabin. Lots of healthy food, and plenty of rest remember? Now go take a nap, I'll get everything out of the truck."   
  
Meanwhile, at the SGC, organized chaos reigned. General Jumper had spent the night in one of the VIP suites, and after touring Norad in the morning, was now getting to see the Gate in action as several of the off-world guests were arriving. Hammond was greeting them, along with SG9 led by Major Kovacek who was in charge of escorting the new arrivals to the surface. The other available SG units had spent the morning setting up the tent, table, chairs, and a dance floor.  
  
Now the officers were all changed into their dress blues and were welcoming the guests, making sure that they got something to drink. General Jumper had been introduced to several allies that he had previously only read about in reports. Bra'tac and Ry'ac had arrived several hours ago and were with Teal'c. Lya and Nafrayu of the Nox had arrived a few minutes ago, and Gairwin and several other Cimmerians were currently being led away by two members of SG9. Garshaw and Per'sus of the Tok'ra were due in ten minutes. Jacob Carter had just joined the group in the control room to be on hand to greet them. That left just Commander Thor, who would be beaming in any moment as well. General Jumper was anxious to meet the ally he had read so much about. Suddenly there was a bright white light that caused them all to cover their eyes. When it had dissipated, a small gray creature was standing before them. Despite the reports, General Jumper still found that he had expected the important member of their powerful allies to be more imposing. Commander Thor looked like a strong wind could blow him away.   
  
By 15:30 all of the guests had arrived and word had just been sent from the main gate that the guests of honor had arrived. A few minutes later the newlyweds, both dressed in their dress blues, were greeted by raised glasses and a toast to the bride and groom led by General Hammond. Over the course of the next several hours there would be many more toasts from colleges and allies, all wishing the two officers much happiness in their new life together, many of them also recounting their favorite Sam, Jack, or SG1 embarrassing moment. Sam had been handed a glass of champagne upon entering the tent, and occasionally raised it to her lips barely sipping, not wanting to cause any suspicion just yet.   
  
The evening so far had progressed without any intergalactic incidents, a fact that the two generals were both relieved over. The variety of food and drink had managed to appease all of the diverse tastes, and their guests had all enjoyed partaking in the various Tauri wedding rituals such as the cutting of the cake. Thor had a particular fondness for the custom of clinking the glassware to demand that the bride and groom kiss, but Jack suspected that was just because Thor loved to embarrass him every chance he got. After the bride and groom had danced the first dance to a romantic tune picked out by the young lieutenant from SG12 who was the DJ for the evening, and Sam had made sure that Major Connors had taken a break from his duties to dance with Janet (Cassie had given two thumbs up), Jack grabbed the microphone and a hush fell over the crowd.   
  
Like the day before, Jack thanked everyone for coming to help them celebrate, then smiled as he prepared to tell their other news.  
  
"So, I have a couple of announcements to make. First, for those of you wondering how to address Sam from now on, she is going to stick to Carter on base, mostly because two O'Neills would just be too darn confusing, but also because I still call her that a lot of the time anyway," he admitted getting a chuckle from the crowd. "Second, we wanted to congratulate the winner of the wedding pool, Sgt. Davis. They have paid you haven't they? Yes? Good! Now who is going to admit to having the earliest date in the baby pool?" Jack asked. When nobody volunteered he turned to Major Griff. "I know people have been putting money down all evening. Who has the earliest date so far Griff?" he demanded.  
  
"Lt. Hailey does Jack. She picked March 1st," Griff divulged.  
  
"Lieutenant! You do know that I would have to be two months pregnant already to make that date, don't you?" Sam inquired acting shocked.  
  
"Yes, Ma'am. Sorry, Ma'am," Jennifer apologized looking embarrassed.   
  
"Well don't be. Griff pay the lady off," Jack ordered.  
  
A groan went up through the crowd, quickly followed by an excited murmur. Jack put an arm around Sam's waist and motioned for silence.   
  
"Sam and I are happy to announce that you all get to start a new pool to pick the birth date, weight and sex of the O'Neill twins, who are due in late January," he revealed.   
  
During the split second of shocked silence that followed, Major Griff whipped out some empty sheets of paper. "You did say twins, right?" he verified.  
  
"Yeah, twins," Jack confirmed.   
  
The rest of the evening turned into an even bigger celebration. People streamed up to the happy couple to offer their personal congratulations. Most could then be seen wandering over in the direction of Major Griff to secure their spot in the pool. When Lya and Nafrayu approached them to offer their best wishes the gentle Nox woman looked at Sam for permission and then placed her hands on Sam's abdomen and closed her eyes. When she opened them she smiled at the couple.  
  
"Your children are strong and healthy," she assured them, causing Sam and Jack to breath a sigh of relief, both feeling that Lya knew what she was talking about.  
  
"Thank you, Lya. That is wonderful news," Sam replied.  
  
After a bit, Jack noticed Thor sitting off to the side chatting with Jonas. He grabbed Sam's hand and guided her over to where the Asgard was holding court.   
  
"O'Neill, this news brings great joy to the Asgard," Thor announced.  
  
"Thanks buddy. We are pretty happy about it, too," Jack grinned.  
  
"Now you will pass along the genetic advances within you to a new generation," Thor explained.  
  
"Hey and they get Carter's brains too," Jack pointed out.   
  
"We had thought of that as well. Your offspring should be quite remarkable," Thor commented.  
  
"Yeah, well, they are still going to be just little kids for a long time, so don't go getting any ideas about them helping you out," Jack warned starting to get a funny feeling about this conversation.  
  
Thor blinked several times before answering. "Do not worry, O'Neill. It will be several generations before your race has advanced to that level. It is enough for now that your genetic code will continue on. We had been concerned that we might need to resort to cloning you to ensure that it would not be lost," Thor acknowledged.  
  
"You can do that? Clone humans?" Sam asked in amazement.   
  
"We have been working on it for just such an occasion. However natural procreation is much preferable, especially with a mate as advanced as yourself, Major Carter," Thor remarked with a small nod of his head.  
  
"Glad to have helped out," Jack quipped, but in his mind he was envisioning a mini-Jack clone running around the SGC.   
  
Somehow he felt like he had just dodged a bullet.  
  
Part 5  
  
The weather during the first few days of their honeymoon was perfect. They spent their time wandering the trails, swimming, making love, and even doing a bit of fishing. Sam tired of that last activity pretty quickly though, which was why Jack was currently lounging on the pier alone, fishing pole in one hand, beer in the other. Sam had moved to a grassy area in the sun and had spread a blanket out so she could lay and read. Jack glanced over to see if she was still awake only to find that she had put her book aside, and flipped over onto her stomach to sun herself… topless. Darn! How the heck had he missed her removing her top?   
  
Not that he was surprised. In the six months that they had been together, Sam had never been a prude as far as her body was concerned. And now that she was comfortable with the fact that the cabin was miles from every other living person, she had really loosened up. He'd had no problem getting her to go skinny-dipping the night before even with the moon shining brightly. She had happily gone along with the plan, swimming and splashing in the water that shimmered with silver light like she was a mermaid. It had more than fulfilled that little fantasy, especially when she had swum up to him and wrapped her legs around his hips, their bodies bobbing together in the gentle waves.  
  
As a matter of fact, since that first night here when she had come out of the bedroom in an oversized and amazingly sexy Minnesota Wild jersey, she had seemed to delight in showing off her body to him when he least expected it. And just like now, he had responded each time with the enthusiasm of an 18-year-old. If he didn't know better, he would swear that she was spiking his food with Viagra. He took a swig of his beer, and told his overheated body to calm down, it was just her bare back for crying out loud. Just as he was getting himself under control, a movement made him look back at Sam, to find that she was on her feet and walking towards him, still topless. All rational thought fled to the point that when she stood before him holding out the suntan oil, he had no clue what she wanted.  
  
"Jack! Can you put some of this on my back?" she finally asked him with an eyebrow arched in amusement.  
  
But the few brain cells still functioning had already commanded his body to act, and a moment later Sam gave a squeal as Jack swept her off of her feet and carried her back to the blanket where he set about covering more than just her back in the oil. Later as they lay in each other's arms he finally found his voice.  
  
"You are going to be the death of me," he warned her.   
  
"You seem to be holding up just fine, so far flyboy," Sam chuckled. "Besides, you should enjoy this while you can. It won't be long before I'm too big for this kind of activity, and once the twins are born we won't have the time or the energy. In a year you will probably be begging for a little action."   
  
"A year from now I will bring my family up here for a week's vacation. We will set up a playpen right over there under that tree in the shade, put the twins down for a nap, and you and I will make love again right on this very spot," he promised.  
  
"Strategic planning always has been your specialty, and I really like that plan," Sam grinned, giving him a kiss. Then she jumped to her feet, "Now I'm getting hot. Let's take a swim," she suggested, pulling him up to stand beside her. Then she was off, running down the pier, and executing a perfect dive. He watched her gorgeous body slice into the water before he took off running to join her.   
  
That was how they spent most of the next 4 days as well. Hammond had extended their leave to make up for the time they had given up before the wedding, so they didn't have to fly back to Colorado until the following Wednesday. As the days went by, real clothes were abandoned in favor of jogging shorts and t-shirts (which Sam wore bra-less unless they were actually jogging much to Jack's delight), bathing suits and birthday suits. So on Monday, when they woke up to rain, it was almost a chore to actually get dressed when they decided to roll out of bed and head into town to shop and have lunch. It was a good thing that they did though, because it had been a week since Sam had worn her jeans and she was shocked to find that she could barely zip them up. As soon as they got to town, she abandoned Jack to go find something she could comfortably wear home on the plane.   
  
Before parting ways, they had agreed to meet at 13:00 for lunch at a small family diner. Sam arrived five minutes late, definitely more comfortable now that she was wearing a new pair of jeans that fit her correctly, and laden down with other packages. She spotted Jack before he saw her, and was startled to see him sitting in a booth chatting to a very blond woman who looked to be about his age. As she paused for a second Jack looked up and saw her. He instantly smiled and waved, and then as he realized she was carrying quite a load, he got up to help her with the packages.   
  
"Sam, did you strip the stores clean?" he teased giving her a quick kiss.  
  
"Just about," she admitted with a grin, relaxing as he untangled the bags from her grip. She should have realized that there would be people he knew here in town.   
  
"Come here, there is someone I want you to meet," he said guiding her back to the booth. "Sam this is Kristen Anderson. I went to high school with Kristen and her husband Don," he explained. "Kristen, this is my wife, Samantha Carter-O'Neill," he proudly introduced her.  
  
'Wife'. It was the first time she had heard him call her that, and she couldn't believe the thrill it gave her. Neither could she hide the delighted smile that appeared, which only grew when she noticed that Jack had obviously been equally as effected by saying the word.   
  
"It's nice to meet you Kristen," Sam said, sliding into the booth to take the seat Jack had just vacated. Jack made to slide in next to her, but then realized that there were too many packages to handle. After a second's hesitation he excused himself to go dump the bags out in their rented SUV. There was a moment of awkward silence between the two women and then Sam broke the ice.  
  
"So how long have you and Don been married?" she inquired politely.  
  
"We married right out of high school. We are coming up on our thirtieth anniversary," Kristen replied with a smile. "I hadn't heard about Jack getting remarried. How long have you two been together?"  
  
"Tricky question. The short answer is six months. We just got married a week ago Saturday," Sam told her.  
  
"A week ago! Hey you're on your honeymoon!" Kristen deduced. Then she paused before asking, "What's the long answer?"  
  
"We've known each other for six years and five months. I was his 2IC for almost six years before we started seeing each other," Sam explained.  
  
"You're in the Air Force too?" Kristen questioned.  
  
"I'm a Major," Sam confessed, and then when Kristen looked confused she added, "That's two ranks lower than Jack, who is a Colonel."  
  
"What comes after Colonel," Kristen wanted to know.  
  
"Brigadier General," Sam explained.  
  
"I didn't realize that Jack was so high up in rank," Kristen admitted. "Don and I have seen him once and a while when he's been up here at the cabin, but he never talks about his job."  
  
"That's because if I told you anything, I'd have to shoot you," Jack told her as he slid into the booth next to Sam.  
  
"You didn't tell me you were on your honeymoon, either," Kristen complained.  
  
"You didn't give me a chance," he teased. "You were too busy bragging about your new grandbaby."  
  
"Wow, you're a grandmother?" Sam exclaimed in disbelief.  
  
"Yeah, my daughter Karen just had a baby last week. A little boy they named Eric. That's why I'm in town today. I was stopping by to pick up a rocking chair we had made for her as a present," Kristen revealed.  
  
Sam was instantly curious. "Where did you get a rocking chair made?" she queried.   
  
"There's a fairly new store over on 3rd Street called Larson's. The guy is a real craftsman. He makes beautiful furniture," Kristen confided.  
  
Sam looked at Jack pleadingly. "Ok, we'll check it out after lunch," he agreed to her unasked question.  
  
The waitress came to take their order then, and Kristen got up to leave.  
  
"Kristen, are you and Don free tonight?" Jack asked. "We could meet at Lundstrom's for dinner. Sam and I are only here for one more day, and I would love to see Don."  
  
They settled on a time, and after Kristen left Sam inquired "How fancy is this place?"  
  
"Casual, but no jeans, why?" Jack asked cautiously.  
  
"I may need to do some more shopping," Sam informed him with a twinkle in her eye.   
  
After lunch they headed out to find Larson's furniture store, and ended up spending several hours there picking out and ordering what they wanted. Kristen had been right, the pieces were lovely, and priced reasonably enough that even if they ended up having to pay a lot for shipping they were still getting a good deal. They ended up with two cribs, two rocking chairs (one for the nursery and one for their bedroom) a children's size armoire, and a small dresser with a detachable changing table on top.  
  
Then Sam made a quick stop back at one of the stores to buy a simple dress she had passed up earlier. Much to Jack's relief, she only took fifteen minutes there, since she didn't need to try on the dress again. That gave them just enough time to go back to the cabin and get changed for dinner with his friends.  
  
Lundstrom's was a well known local steakhouse, understated but quite lovely, and Jack assured her that the food was great. Once the other couple arrived, Jack introduced Sam to Don Anderson, and she once again glowed when he called her 'his wife'. Once they had placed their orders Jack set about catching up with his old friend. While Jack and Don chatted, Kristen quizzed Sam on her afternoon shopping.  
  
"Did you find anything you liked at Larson's?" she asked catching Jack's attention with the store name.  
  
"I really need to talk to you about giving Sam shopping tips," he said rolling his eyes.   
  
"Uh, oh! What did you buy?" Kristen chuckled looking at Sam with a raised eyebrow.  
  
"She furnished the entire nursery. I'm going to need to hire a truck to get it all back to Colorado," Jack complained good-naturedly.  
  
"Nursery?" Don exclaimed. "Is there something you haven't told us?"  
  
"Sam is pregnant. We're having twins in January," Jack announced with a grin.  
  
"Oh *we* are?" Sam teased. "I'm so glad you are giving birth to one of them!"  
  
Jack looked slightly sheepish. "Sam is having twins," he corrected. "I'm just along for the ride."  
  
"Wow, twins! Congratulations. You two aren't wasting any time," Don commented. "But then Jack isn't getting any younger, so that's a good thing."  
  
"Look who's talking Grandpa," Jack replied.  
  
The rest of the evening passed quickly. Sam really liked the couple, who she found she had a lot in common with. Don had a passion for rebuilding anything with an engine, and Kristen's Dad had been in the Navy until she was in Junior High, so like Sam she had moved around a lot as a kid. Plus Sam got to hear some great stories about Jack's antics in High School.  
  
The next day Sam and Jack spent straightening up the cabin and packing. It was while they were finishing up the latter that Sam suddenly froze and placed her hand on her abdomen. Jack instantly panicked.  
  
"Sam, what's the matter," he demanded, dropping the bag he had been taking out to the SUV and hurrying to her side.  
  
She turned to him with wide eyes and a look of wonder. "I think I just felt the babies move," she said softly, and then broke into a huge smile. "There they go again!"  
  
She grabbed Jack's hand and guided it to the right spot, but admitted, "It's just a flutter. You might not be able to feel it."  
  
Unfortunately she was right, but Jack was thrilled to see how incredibly happy she was. "They're just yours for now," he told her gathering her in his arms for a kiss.  
  
The rain of the day before brought in some cooler air, so after dinner they gladly lit a fire in the fireplace and then made themselves a comfy nest of pillows and blankets so they could make love in the flickering firelight. As they snuggled together afterwards, they talked about going back to the real world.  
  
"So I guess you won't be running around half naked as much when we get back," Jack said with a resigned sigh.  
  
"Not unless you want me to give poor Mr. Carlson next door an eyeful," Sam chuckled.  
  
"God, no. He'd probably have a stroke at his age," Jack conceded. "Although he'd die with a smile on his face," he added, earning him a poke in the ribs from his wife.  
  
"I know this is hard to believe, but I've gotten so relaxed up here that I'm not even looking forward to getting back to my lab," Sam admitted.  
  
"You're right. I don't believe it," Jack chuckled. "You'll be engrossed in some doohickey within five minutes of being back."  
  
"Probably, but I do understand what you love about this place now. It's very easy to forget what we do for a living here," Sam acknowledged.  
  
"Yeah, but I have to admit that this is the first time in a long time that I'm not ready to go back. Usually I am here by myself, and after a week, I'm bored and missing everybody. Mostly you," he confessed. "This time I feel like everything I need is right here. It's tough to remember why we need to leave."  
  
"Because even though we are not fighting on the front lines anymore we are still needed to help with the war against the Goa'uld," Sam reminded him.  
  
"And according to Thor, we are needed to populate the earth with little O'Neill's, which we could do right here," Jack countered.  
  
"So we do both. You're the one that told me we can do anything together," Sam pointed out.  
  
"Yes I did. So we go back, we kick Goa'uld butt, and we have half a dozen kids," Jack agreed.  
  
"Three kids," Sam countered.  
  
"Four," Jack bargained with a grin. 


	5. From This Day Forward

Title: "From This Day Forward"  
  
Author: Jackie W.   
  
Email: jackiesfic@aol.com  
  
Rating: PG13  
  
Classification: S/J Romance  
  
  
  
Season: Future  
  
Spoilers: None  
  
Summary: As a new General takes over the SGC, Sam and Jack add one last member to team O'Neill.  
  
Sequel to: In Sickness and in Health, To Have and To Hold, For Better or For Worse, With This Ring  
  
  
  
Author's Notes: The end of another series! (I'm on a roll)   
  
  
  
General George Hammond looked around his office with a sigh. He was going to miss all of this. Still, he had to admit that at the age of seventy the long hours and stress of being in charge of the most top-secret military base on Earth was beginning to take its toll. It was definitely time to step down. His replacement, General Gordon Howard, would be arriving within the hour and they would start a two week transition of power at the end of which he would be officially retired.   
  
He had originally hoped to hand over the reigns of the SGC to Jack O'Neill. He'd planned on doing so several years ago. But Jack had made it clear at that point that he wanted more time with his growing family and was thinking of retiring for a third and final time himself. It had taken the President and Hammond double teaming him to convince O'Neill that his knowledge was too valuable for them to let him go totally. Eventually Jack had agreed to a part time consultant position that allowed him to keep his security clearance, and meant that he spent no more than thirty to forty hours a month on base. Hammond had turned over Jack's other duties to a recently promoted Lt. Colonel Griff, content in the knowledge that he got on well with Colonel O'Neill and the two would work together without too much butting of heads.   
  
The arrangement had worked nicely. Occasionally Thor would pop in and Jack would liaison between the alien allies and the SGC, but that was the only time he went off-world anymore. Unfortunately it had left Hammond without a clear successor, and he had postponed his own retirement once more until someone could be found that both he and the President were comfortable with. It had taken another three years and several failed attempts. Finally they had resorted to some pretty stealthy surveillance on the final candidate, a job he had given to Jack O'Neill. Hammond had been reviewing General's credentials when he came across the file on Howard. He had served with Gordon briefly in the early seventies, and had thought at the time the young lieutenant had potential. Seems he'd been right. Shortly after being promoted to Brigadier General, Howard had been put in charge of the base in Kuwait just as the last war in Iraq had been gearing up, so he knew what it was like to send troops off to war. He also had high security clearance because of a stint as a translator working on classified radio transmissions.   
  
The only question in Hammond's mind had been if the now Major General had the right personality to take on the job. He'd met with Howard twice, and then sent Jack to do some real digging. The report back from O'Neill had been positive. The men under Howard's command respected him, and he had been known to bend a few rules in his day. Just the type of man needed to run the SGC. Hammond had called the President and made his recommendation, which after review, the President had approved. Finally, after over thirteen years as the Commanding Officer of the SGC, George Hammond was getting to retire.   
  
  
  
Major General Gordon Howard sat in what was soon to be his new office in shock. When he'd received his orders he'd been less than thrilled. What did he know about Deep Space Radar Telemetry? Leading a base full of scientists sounded like the most boring assignment on the face of the Earth, and definitely a waste of his command talents. The only bright spot had been that the base was currently run by George Hammond, a man he had respected in the past and was looking forward to working with again if only for a few weeks.   
  
What he had learned in the past few hours had shot all of his pre-conceived ideas about this new assignment to pieces. Exploring the universe, aliens, and a base that was comprised of not just scientists but officers from several branches of the US military as well as Russian and British teams made him suddenly feel woefully unprepared. Hammond had assured him that he had the best of the best to advise him, and that he could trust them to give him the information he would need to make risk assessments.   
  
"I won't lie to you Gordon. You'll have to make some darn tough decisions. But it's an incredible command. I wouldn't have traded it for anything," George told him before leaving him with files to read while he went to check on a team just back with minor injuries.   
  
General Howard tried to concentrate on the information in front of him which contained a list of the key people under his command, most of whom he would meet later that afternoon. However he found his curiosity getting the better of him, and eventually he wandered over to the window overlooking the gateroom. He stared out at the device housed there with a smile. He had a feeling his life was about to get very exciting.   
  
Later that evening over dinner he discussed the staff members he had met that day with Hammond getting more personal information on each of them. He was surprised to learn that Colonel Conners and Lt. Colonel Fraiser were married and had just adopted a displaced brother and sister who had been orphaned when a minor Goa'uld had destroyed their planet. And it wasn't the first alien that Dr. Fraiser had adopted. Her daughter Cassandra, now grown and doing botanical research right here at the SGC was also from another planet. Finally he got around to asking George about the two officers that he hadn't met yet, Colonel Jack O'Neill and Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter.  
  
"I'll let you form your own opinion on Jack O'Neill. I will say that he's one of the finest officers I've ever had the pleasure of serving with. That said, he is also the most exasperating. Colonel O'Neill will be in tomorrow to meet you and then will attend the staff meeting. He sits in on most of them to keep up with the base operations. As for Lt. Colonel Carter, there is only one word to describe her, brilliant. If ever you need a solution to save the planet, she's the one you will turn to. I've seen that woman pull off some incredible miracles in the last thirteen years. She's currently on maternity leave, which just means that we try not to call her too often, and not in the middle of the night if we can help it. She's sleep deprived enough with a newborn to care for. She and the baby will be in on Wednesday for a check-up. I'll introduce you then," Hammond explained. "Oh, and I suppose I should mention Lt. Colonel Carter answers to many names around here. Most people call her LC, so if you hear that you know who they are referring to. She also goes by Carter-O'Neill, as she is married to Jack."  
  
"Another couple? What were you running here, George, The Dating Game?" General Howard quipped.   
  
"You have no idea, Gordon. The people of this command disappear for days on end, and come back injured and shell shocked. That's a hell of a lot to explain to a significant other and try to keep up the façade of working in Deep Space Radar Telemetry. Add to that the frat regs, and you'll find that we spend a lot of time trying to keep the morale up for a bunch of very lonely, stressed out field personnel. I've had to break up more that one team over the years to allow officers to pursue relationships. If I didn't we would have lost too many good people. Luckily O'Neill and Carter have set the standard for keeping it professional over the years, so we really don't have too many problems. There are actually six married couples on base at the moment," Hammond told him.  
  
General Howard was amazed. He had only dealt with one married couple under his command over the years, but after giving the matter some thought he realized that what Hammond had explained to him made sense. He mentally made a note that this was another part of the job that he was probably going to need advice on. He'd never been much in the romance department, and he had two ex-wives to prove it.   
  
  
  
The next day Jack O'Neill strolled into the SGC several hours before his scheduled meeting with the two generals. If there was one thing he had learned in the past seven years it was that on his first day back after the birth of a new baby he would need to allow plenty of time to get wherever he was going. The other thing he had learned was that he had better have a picture on him. True to form, it took him an hour to make his way down to the locker room, as he was stopped at least a dozen times. Not that he minded showing off his new son. The grin on his face would have been a shock to people who knew him 10 years ago. Now though his colleagues were used to seeing a happy Colonel. He assured everyone that Sam and the baby would be in the next day, and finally made it in to get changed. SG2 had taken over SG1's old locker room, but Jack kept a change of clothes in there for the days he was on base. Today as he was putting on his boots, the four members of SG2 all walked in, just back from a mission.   
  
"Colonel, sorry we didn't realize you were in here," one of the younger team members exclaimed.   
  
"No problem, I'm just about done anyway. It's all yours," Jack told him with a sweep of his hand.  
  
"So you'd better have a picture of that baby," Griff warned him with a grin.   
  
Jack reached into the locker and pulled out the picture of Matthew George O'Neill with a smile. Griff took one look at the baby and shook his head.  
  
"He's an O'Neill all right. He looks just like you, poor kid," he teased. "How's Sam?"  
  
"She's great. Although she is making threatening noises about what she'll do to me if I even think about having another baby. She swears that this is it," Jack admitted.  
  
Griff snorted. "I think she has a valid complaint," he pointed out.  
  
"Hey, this last one was totally her idea!" Jack protested.  
  
Griff just looked at him in disbelief.  
  
"Ok, so I brought up the subject. But she didn't need any arm twisting," Jack confessed with shrug.  
  
"I know. She told us when she got pregnant this last time that she couldn't resist having one more baby before she was too old to even consider it," Griff acknowledged.   
  
O'Neill left SG2 joking around in the locker room and headed down to the General's office. It was going to be tough having someone else as his CO after all of these years, but he'd already decided that if the new guy gave him any grief he would just retire for good and stay home to be a full time Mr. Mom. He loved that job anyway, and it wouldn't be a hardship. He smiled thinking of his wonderful family. He thanked his lucky stars every day for the second chance that Sam had given him to be a husband and a father. The smile remained as he was beckoned into the General's office.   
  
Gordon Howard had read Jack O'Neill's file the night before. It had given him nightmares. The man had seen things most people on Earth couldn't even imagine in their wildest dreams. He'd been subjected to torture very few human beings could fathom. Even with his extensive battle experience the General had been sickened by what he could read in between the lines of the official reports. He was prepared for a battle hardened man with a chip on his shoulder. He was so not ready for Jack O'Neill. The gray hair and a few visible scars were the only outward signs of the battles the man had fought. The devil-may-care smile that reached his eyes and the relaxed body that was still in excellent shape made the General wonder if this was the right man. (Oh, Jack might complain about the knees and back but between his little vacation at Resort Ba'al eight years ago and Thor's generous lending of medical technology over the past couple of years, he was really in great shape, which Sam could attest to if she was asked)   
  
As the General was trying to get a fix on the man, Jack O'Neill was sizing up his new commander. Howard looked to be only a few years older than Jack, which didn't really bother him. Everyone he had spoken to when Hammond had asked him to check out the General had spoken highly of him, but he hadn't been dealing with the daily excitement that was standard operating procedure at this command. Jack hoped he could think on his feet. There was only one way to find out.  
  
General Hammond made the formal introductions, and then Jack grinned and threw General Howard his first curve ball. "So… 'G.H.', how convenient. We won't have to order new stationary or monogrammed towels," he quipped.  
  
Hammond closed his eyes in frustration. Leave it to Jack O'Neill. But General Howard recovered from his surprise and couldn't help a small smile of his own.   
  
"Hopefully it will be enough to keep us under budget this year. I always like to do my part in cutting costs," he acknowledged.   
  
He watched as a fleeting look of approval passed over the Colonel's face before the grin and the casual air of indifference were resumed. He realized that he had just been tested and had passed initial muster. His opinion of Jack O'Neill was formed instantly. He would remember to never underestimate this man.  
  
The three men ended up in the commissary where General Howard questioned O'Neill about their various allies out in the universe, having been told by Hammond, Griff and Conners that the Colonel had the closest relationship with many of them. At first he found it hard to believe that this man was the one that a race as advanced as the Asguard trusted, but after hearing his frank and insightful views on the strengths and weaknesses of each race he was impressed. They were discussing the Tok'Ra when something in O'Neill's attitude made him curious.  
  
"What exactly is your gripe with the Tok'Ra, Colonel?" he asked.  
  
"There are only a couple of them that I trust to give us a straight story. The rest all have their own agenda which they are not too fond of sharing until its too late," Jack answered truthfully.   
  
"Which Tok'Ra do you trust?" General Howard inquired.  
  
"Well, Selmak, because we've had the most contact with her, um, him. And I trust his host, Jacob Carter," Jack explained.   
  
"Any relationship to Colonel Carter?" Howard questioned.  
  
"Yeah, her Dad. At least we know he's got Earth's best interests at heart," Jack continued. "And Malek is alright. He's been a big help several times over the years and seems to be a straight shooter," he concluded.  
  
"I'm looking forward to meeting them. And our other allies," Howard admitted.  
  
"Well, Thor's a bit unpredictable, but Jacob will be here in two weeks for Thanksgiving and to see his latest grandson," Jack told him.  
  
That reminded General Howard of something. "Yes, I understand congratulations are in order. General Hammond told me I'll be able to meet your wife and new baby tomorrow," General Howard commented. "Do you have other children?"   
  
"Thank you. Matthew is our sixth, and Sam swears our last, child," Jack informed him.  
  
"Six!" Howard exclaimed in amazement. "How old is the oldest?"  
  
"The oldest are twins, and they will be seven in two months," Jack admitted. At the General's astounded look Jack grinned over at Hammond then shrugged. "What can I say, we had a lot of lost time to make up for!"  
  
  
  
Jack just smiled. He was used to the reaction most people had to his suddenly large family. He hadn't been surprised when the twins were born to find out that Sam was a natural as a mom, but she had confessed to him later that she was surprised by how much she loved babies. She'd always suspected that infants would be a bit boring. She really didn't have any experience with them having only gotten closer to her brother again when her niece and nephew were already preschoolers. So she hadn't been prepared for loving Jake and Kate instantly and completely, from their little fingers and toes to the peaceful feeling of cuddling them as she rocked them to sleep. That was why she hadn't been a bit upset when she and Jack had come back from their belated 1st anniversary celebration at the cabin with the eight-month-old twins to discover that her new birth control had failed spectacularly and she was pregnant again. She *had* been relieved to find out she was only carrying one baby that time however. That baby girl had been followed almost two years later by another daughter and twenty-one months later by another.  
  
Everyone figured they were done and then Sam had announced this last pregnancy. Several people were ready to shoot Jack until Sam admitted that he had merely joked that another son would help even out the numbers a bit and she had capitulated. (After pointing out that another daughter would mean he and Jake would be woefully outnumbered for the rest of their lives) He and Jake had gotten their wish though, and two weeks ago Sam had given birth to Matthew, bringing the grand total of O'Neill offspring to two boys and four girls. Thor was thrilled. Jack was sporting a permanent grin. Sam took it all in stride. She never had needed much sleep, a characteristic that had come in handy over the last seven years. Now with three of the kids in school and Jack home a lot, it meant that she could continue to work without feeling like she was abandoning her brood to be raised by a stranger.  
  
Not that she spent anywhere near the amount of time she used to in the lab. She had a wonderful staff now, and she could limit herself to working on the really big important projects and leave the rest in their capable hands. And with all of the major System Lords defeated, they were kept quite busy as the majority of teams were now exploring instead of fighting the Goa'uld. The technology being recovered, studied and put to practical use was more than paying for the program. Better still, Kinsey had retired from public life after a disastrous run for President. Unfortunately, they still ran into some of the minor Goa'ulds once in a while, and they had managed to butt heads with another violent race, the Lanoins several years ago, so they still had a need to concentrate on defense technology. All in all though, Sam was able to pretty much work 9 to 5 now, except for the stray page or phone call on weekends and evenings. And the more frequent ones when she was on maternity leave.  
  
So she wasn't surprised to find that there was a queue of people waiting to grab 5 minutes of her time when she got to the base on Wednesday. She patiently explained to each that she would stop in her lab after her appointment in the infirmary, and headed off to get Matthew weighed, measured, poked and prodded. It seemed that everyone wanted blood and tissue samples of her offspring, so Janet dutifully marked test tubes for the Asguard, the NID and for herself to study. So far, the NID had been the only ones disappointed by the results. Janet was always happy to find that the babies were healthy and normal, with just a trace of naquada in their blood. Thor was thrilled that the Jack's genetic anomalies were being passed on to each child. The NID had been hoping for a Harcesis. Sam could have told them they were doomed to disappointment. Jack retained nothing except for a few blurry memories from his time with Kanan. And the research she and Janet had done indicated that both parents would need to be hosting living symbiotes at the time of conception to pass along the genetic memory anyway. As Janet finished up checking Sam's vitals they chatted.  
  
"So is Jack home with the other five kids by himself today?" Janet asked.  
  
"Not really. The twins are at school until 15:00, and Molly is in morning kindergarten and won't need to be picked up until after lunch. So he just has Brie and Grace," Sam explained.  
  
"Lucky him, they're the easy two," Janet protested.  
  
"Yes, but Bridget is at that wonderful 'Why?' stage and all day yesterday I told her to 'Ask Daddy tomorrow' so he should be tearing out his hair about now," Sam grinned.   
  
"You are evil," Janet laughed.  
  
"I'm just getting him back for teaching Molly to climb trees over the summer. I had to watch her like a hawk for weeks," Sam protested.   
  
"That girl is pure O'Neill," Janet pointed out, shaking her head.   
  
"Luckily she got the O'Neill Irish charm or she would constantly be in the doghouse. As it is she just gives me that puppy dog look with those big brown eyes and I forget why I'm punishing her," Sam admitted.  
  
"You're lucky the other four don't take after Jack as much. Then you would really have your hands full. Speaking of which, is it just my imagination or have Matthew's little legs been kicking the whole time you've been here?" Janet inquired.   
  
"Oh definitely not your imagination. Remember I told you this one kicked ten times worse than the twins? He's like the Energizer Bunny, he never stops. And you know he looks just like Jack and Charlie's baby pictures. He's going to be my little Jack clone," Sam sighed.   
  
"Not such a bad thing really," Janet smirked.   
  
"No, not such a bad thing," Sam agreed. "I'd better get going, I have a whole queue of people waiting to talk to me," she complained.   
  
"Do you want me to keep Matthew here?" Janet offered.  
  
"No, it's time for his bottle anyway, and if I have him with me people will keep it short," Sam suggested optimistically. Then she headed for her lab.  
  
That's where the two Generals found her a bit later. Hammond had called down to the infirmary and been told she was done with her exam and it hadn't taken much thought to realize where she was and that she probably needed rescuing. They found her sitting with Matthew in one arm, waving his bottle at the calculations on the board trying to point out the error. Matthew was sound asleep.  
  
"Don't tell me you are starting him this early on Quantum Physics, Colonel?" Hammond chuckled.   
  
Sam smiled and started to stand, but Hammond waved her to stay seated. She smiled down at the dozing baby. "I'm trying my best, Sir. But just like another O'Neill I know it just seems to put him to sleep," Sam confessed, shifting Matthew so that his legs were free to wiggle in his sleep.  
  
"General Howard, this is Lt. Colonel Samantha Carter, and Matthew George O'Neill," Hammond proudly introduced. He had been so honored when they had told him Matthew's full name.   
  
At the introduction Sam did get to her feet, and George stepped in to take the baby for her. She gave her new CO a smile, but ignored the salute since she was indoors and in civilian clothes.  
  
"It's a pleasure to meet you Colonel. I've heard nothing but good things about you from your colleagues," General Howard nodded.   
  
"Ah, well then I'm sure there are a few you still haven't talked to," Sam quipped turning to the group behind her. "After I leave you can tell the General what I'm like in morning before my first cup of coffee," she teased them.   
  
Noticing that the group was all still waiting on Sam, Hammond turned to them. "Is there anything that you can't address in an e-mail to the Colonel later?" he queried. When no one came up with anything he cleared the room by announcing, "Good, because General Howard and I need to talk to her for a bit. Dismissed."  
  
"What the problem?" Sam asked when they had left.   
  
"Absolutely nothing, Colonel. I just wanted you to be able to leave before this one gets cranky," Hammond told her.   
  
Sam smiled one of her brilliant smiles in gratitude. "Actually he's going to wake up soon wanting to finish that bottle now that the technobabble is over. Maybe we should head down to the commissary and we can talk while he eats," Sam suggested.   
  
General Howard was grateful as he had some questions that he felt she could answer better than the reports he was trying to wade through. An hour later he actually felt like he was starting to understand how the gate worked. The Lt. Colonel and Hammond had also thrashed out plans for the day after Thanksgiving when the original members of SG1, Doctor Fraiser and their extended families would gather for their annual feast. The General was a regular, and General Howard had been happy to accept an invitation as well. Hammond had assured him that Lt. Colonel Griff and Major Taylor would be taking duty shifts that day, in return for getting Thanksgiving day off. Colonel O'Neill and one other officer would cover the actual holiday. It was a tradition they had started years ago when it got too hard for them all to get Thanksgiving Day off. It also meant that since they worked on Thanksgiving, they were excused from taking Christmas duty, which suited them all just fine.  
  
General Howard turned to Sam. "Your holiday's must surely be chaotic with six small children, Colonel," he commented.   
  
"You have no idea, Sir," she said rolling her eyes. "It's the big kid that gives me the most grief though!" she proclaimed with a grin.   
  
George Hammond laughed at that turning to General Howard. "I won't miss having to keep Jack O'Neill in line. He's all your headache now Gordon!"  
  
Gordon Howard looked dismayed. Then he looked at Sam. "I have a feeling I know where to go to if I need any suggestions on controlling him," he thought aloud.  
  
Sam put on her best innocent look and responded with a twinkle in her eye, "I have no idea what you mean General."  
  
  
  
The holiday season was indeed an exercise in organized chaos at the O'Neill house. They had long ago sold Jacks original house, using the proceeds from it and Sam's to purchase a five bedroom home that they had figured would be big enough for their growing family and still leave one guestroom. After Grace was conceived they'd added on to give them two more large rooms, one a den where Sam and Jack could work from home when needed, but which also contained a sleeper sofa for when the number of guests overflowed from the other room which was a permanent guestroom. (Except for when it occasionally doubled as a fort if the twins and Molly could get their father to help them construct rooms out of sheets and blankets thrown over ropes)   
  
This Christmas they were guest-free however, having just had Maureen and Charles for a visit right after Matthew was born. They would probably not see the rest of the O'Neills until the summer when a large family reunion was planned for Charles' eightieth birthday. As for Sam's brother, they had managed a nice get together when Jacob and Mark and family had come to Colorado Springs for the long Labor Day weekend. Sam had been almost eight months pregnant and had happily let the men in her life wait on her hand and foot, a feature that her sister-in-law had whole heartedly approved of, as she sat back and chatted with Sam letting the men cook, clean and chase children.   
  
So they were glad to not be entertaining out-of-town guests this Christmas, just sitting back and enjoying their children. Well, not exactly sitting back. They had been awoken at 05:50 by the joyful shouts announcing Santa had come and gone, leaving a mound of presents behind. Now three hours later, after stockings had been emptied, presents oohed and ahhed over, and breakfast devoured, they were all back in the family room as Sam and Jack surveyed the clutter in dismay. Sam was about to dig in and start clearing away wrapping paper, when a wail from Matthew let her know that he was ready to eat too. Jack took charge, telling her he would watch the rest of the kids and clear up a bit while she went upstairs and fed Matt and put him down for a nap. She gave him a relieved smile and a kiss on the cheek.   
  
Her rest in the peace and quiet of the nursery sitting in the rocking chair with Matthew had revived her enough that Sam was ready to once again face the chaos downstairs. She frowned as she shut the door behind her after grabbing the baby monitor. She'd suddenly noticed that it was pretty quiet in the house. She crept softly down the stairs and peaked into the family room not wanting to disturb whatever miracle had occurred to cause all six occupants to be relatively silent at the same time. The site that met her eyes was a pure mother's delight. Most of the mess had been placed into large garbage bags, although the balled up pieces of paper still remaining told a story of an impromptu game of 'basketball' that she was sure Jack had instigated to get the kids to help him.  
  
Now the twins were spread out on the floor with one of the board games Santa had brought happily playing to their own rules. Rules she was sure no one else would ever comprehend, as the two seemed to operate on their own special wavelength. Daniel had been astounded when they were small to observe them as they learned to talk. He had never gotten to actually see a case of twin-speak, and Jake and Kate had joyfully let him in on their own private language. As close as they were to their siblings, especially Molly, they still had a bond with each other that often required no actual speech at all. Thinking of Molly made her eyes search out her little rabble rouser to see what trouble she was up to. Someone had helped open up the new set of plastic building blocks, and a very impressive structure was taking shape in the corner. Sam smiled in relief. That was an activity that could occupy her for hours.   
  
Bridget was sitting curled up in Jack's favorite chair with a pile of books. She noticed that she had Molly and the twin's new books as well as her own, and Sam had no doubt that she was attempting to read them. If Molly was Jack's child, Bridget was hers, all blond curls, endless curiosity and single-minded attention to detail. The pre-school she attended had tested her reading ability and been astonished to learn that she read at a second grade level. Sam hadn't been surprised. Bridget would only need to know you for about ten minutes before she would crawl up onto your lap with a book and trustingly ask you to 'Read?'   
  
And that just left Grace and Jack, who were stretched out on the couch together, sound asleep. The toddler was curled up on Jack's chest, sucking her thumb. Jack had one arm protectively around her to keep her from falling off, and there was a look of total peace on her face. Sam smiled. 'I know how you feel little one, that's my favorite place to nap too', she thought. Then her eyes alighted on the camera sitting on the table a few feet from where she stood. She carefully reached for it and managed to snap off several pictures without disturbing anyone, or so she thought. Jack opened one eye to see what she was up to and grinned.   
  
"Kodak moment?" he inquired.   
  
Sam just nodded. In truth she was too choked up to answer him, the overwhelming happiness that had welled up as she surveyed the scene having rendered her momentarily speechless. Darn hormones. Then she smiled. She couldn't totally blame hormones for these intense feelings. Ever since Janet had placed her baby daughter in her arms and she had looked up to see Jack holding their son, these moments had been occurring with great regularity. She was just plain happy.   
  
She shook herself out of her reverie and headed into the kitchen to pour herself a cup of coffee. If she was lucky the peace and quiet would last long enough for her to finish it and then she could throw herself whole heartedly in to whatever the kids had in mind. It was snowing, so she was betting that snowman building was on the agenda. Janet and Stan would be over soon with Cassie and their two new adopted children, but neither Teal'c nor Jacob had made it to Earth this year.   
  
Daniel was off spending the holiday's with his new in-laws, having gotten married the previous spring to a psychiatrist of all people. To her credit, Dr. Wilson was also a sociologist, and had brought in specifically to help integrate some of the alien refugees that passed through the SGC into life on Earth, whether their stay be temporary, or in a couple of cases like Lucas and Ella, permanent. Janet had nothing but good things to say about the help Annie Wilson had given her. Although Cassie had turned out just fine with just SG1 and Janet to guide her, it didn't hurt to have a professional support system.   
  
Sam's thoughts were interrupted by voices and the thunder of feet heeded her way.   
  
"Mom can we build a snow fort??" came the inevitable inquiry.   
  
Sam looked at Jack questioning his sanity. He hadn't suggested a snowball fight had he?   
  
"Just a fort, we promise. Please Mom?" He assured her reading her mind.   
  
Sam shook her head in resignation and with a smile pulled out the bins of hats and gloves.  
  
"I'll be out to see how it's going in a bit. I want to check on Matthew first," she told them as she and Jack worked flawlessly beside each other to pull on boots and zip up coats.   
  
"Good. I doubt Gracie and Brie will last long and you can bring them back in with you," Jack strategized, earning thankful looks from the older three.   
  
The Conners/Fraisers arrived just as Sam was bringing the younger girls back in, and Janet helped put them down for a nap while the rest of her family joined in the outdoor activities. Everyone had decided that Luke and Ella needed to build their first snowman, so the two women had time to organize food, and tend to Matthew when he woke up before the architects and builders came swarming in. The day was a great success, but it was four weary parents who bid farewell to each other that evening.   
  
Later, as Sam and Jack collapsed into bed together, Jack kissed Sam gently and as she snuggled into his warm embrace he whispered, "Thank you."  
  
She didn't need to ask what for, it was the same thing she was thankful for, so she just smiled into his neck and murmured similar words that he also understood without hearing. The twins weren't the only ones who could communicate perfectly without really saying a word. They both often wondered what would have happened to them if Sam hadn't gotten so ill after that nasty mission where they killed Nirrti. It wasn't anything they dwelled on, because any life other than the one they had now was unimaginable. But both knew that Sam's leaving SG1 had been the defining event that had led them to the life they led today. From that day forward they had been able to start living the life they could only dream about before.  
  
And wasn't that what they had been fighting for all along?  
  
The End  
  
,  
  
For those of you trying to keep track, here is the cheat sheet!  
  
Sam and Jack were married on August 2nd, 2003.  
  
Jacob Charles and Katherine Marie – born January 23rd 2004.   
  
Molly Maureen – born July 8th 2005  
  
Bridget Claire – born June 25th 2007 (Claire is for Daniel's mom)  
  
Grace Lorna – born March 15th 2009 (Lorna is for Teal'c mom Lor'nac which I totally made up)  
  
Matthew George – born November 2nd 2010  
  
(and yes this last part is all set at the end of 2010!) 


End file.
